April/May 1874
Pratt, Orson. "The Kingdom not Organized By Man—Man Utterly Unable to Organize the Kingdom of God on the Earth Without Revelation—The Nephites and Lamanites Had All Things in Common—Consecration—The Danger of Pride—The United Order." Journal of Discourses. Volume 17. April 6, 1874: pg. 24-36.
Smith, George A. "Zion to Be Redeemed Through the Law of Consecration—Persecutions of the Saints—A Oneness Among the Saints Necessary—The Hearts of The Fathers to Be Turned to the Children, and the Children to the Fathers." Journal of Discourses. Volume 17. May 7, 1874: pg. 58-63. Smith, George A. "The Blessings of Eternal Life Attained at the Sacrifice of All Things—Tithing—Economy Necessary to Self-Sustenance—Home Manufacture." Journal of Discourses. Volume 17. May 10, 1874: pg. 80-84. Smith, George A. "Education of Children—The Necessity of Supporting Home Publications—Ladies' Relief Societies—St. George and Salt Lake Temples—Sabbath Schools." Journal of Discourses. Volume 17. May 9, 1874: pg. 84-90. Snow, Erastus. "The United Order of Zion Affords the Utmost Freedom and Liberty—Brotherly Love and Goodwill to Man—True Riches Relate to Eternity—Establish Confidence in Our Hearts With God." Journal of Discourses. Volume 17. May 8, 1874: pg. 74-80. Taylor, John. "The Position the Saints Have Occupied Has Been a Peculiar One—The Unity of the Saints—Home Manufacture Preferable to Importation—Organization Necessary to Self-Sustenance." Journal of Discourses. Volume 17. May 7, 1874: pg. 63-68. The Deseret News. "Forty-Fourth Annual Conference." May 13, 1874: pg. 225, 232-233. The Deseret News. "The General Conference." April 8, 1874: pg. 153. Woodruff, Wilford. "Union is Strength—United Order Will Bring About Temporal Salvation—The Time Has Come to Favor Zion—The Judgments of God Are at the Door of This Generation." Journal of Discourses. Volume 17. May 8, 1874: pg. 69-73. Young, Brigham. "The United Order—A System of Oneness—Economy and Wisdom in Becoming Self-Sustaining." Journal of Discourses. Volume 17. May 7, 1874: pg. 56-58. The General Conference Elder Orson Pratt The Kingdom not Organized By Man 10 o’clock, on this the 7th day of May, 1874 President Brigham Young The United Order President George A. Smith Zion to Be Redeemed Through the Law of Consecration Elder John Taylor The Position the Saints Have Occupied Has Been a Peculiar One AFTERNOON Elder Orson Pratt Preamble to United Order of St. George President Brigham Young Friday Morning, May 8th Elder Wilford Woodruff Union is Strength Elder Erastus Snow The United Order of Zion Affords the Utmost Freedom and Liberty President Joseph Young President Brigham Young Afternoon, May 8 President George A. Smith President D. H. Wells President George A. Smith Saturday Morning, May 9th Elder Charles C. Rich Sustaining of the General Authorities Elder Franklin D. Richards Elder David McKenzie Announcement Saturday Afternoon, May 9 Organization of the United Order Mission Calls Elder Erastus Snow Willingness to Identify with United Order President George A. Smith Sunday Morning, May 10th Elder Brigham Young, Jr. Elder Albert Carrington President George A. Smith The Blessings of Eternal Life Attained at the Sacrifice of All Things Afternoon President George A. Smith Education of Children President Brigham Young |
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The General Conference
The Forty-fourth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the New Tabernacle in this city this morning.
On the stand were President D. H. Wells of the First Presidency;
Elders Orson Pratt, John Taylor, W. Woodruff and A. Carrington, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
John Smith, Patriarch of the Church;
Joseph Young, Sen., President, and John Van Cott and A. P. Rockwood of the seven presidents of the Seventies.
George B. Wallace and John T. Caine, Counsellors to the President of this stake of the church;
Elias Smith, President of the High Priests’ Quorum, and E. Morris and H. Snelgrove his counsellors;
Bishop Edward Hunter, Presiding Bishop of the church, and his counselors, L. W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little;
also Bishops E. D. Woolley, W. Hickenlooper and N. Davis, of this city, and Bishop L. E. Harrington, of American Fork.
There was a congregation of nearly three thousand persons present.
The Conference was called to order by President Daniel H. Wells.
The choir sang the hymn on page 302 of the Hymn Book, commencing—“When earth in bondage long had lain.”
Prayer by L. E. Harrington.
Choir sang hymn on page 61—“My God, the spring of all my joys.”
The Forty-fourth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the New Tabernacle in this city this morning.
On the stand were President D. H. Wells of the First Presidency;
Elders Orson Pratt, John Taylor, W. Woodruff and A. Carrington, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
John Smith, Patriarch of the Church;
Joseph Young, Sen., President, and John Van Cott and A. P. Rockwood of the seven presidents of the Seventies.
George B. Wallace and John T. Caine, Counsellors to the President of this stake of the church;
Elias Smith, President of the High Priests’ Quorum, and E. Morris and H. Snelgrove his counsellors;
Bishop Edward Hunter, Presiding Bishop of the church, and his counselors, L. W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little;
also Bishops E. D. Woolley, W. Hickenlooper and N. Davis, of this city, and Bishop L. E. Harrington, of American Fork.
There was a congregation of nearly three thousand persons present.
The Conference was called to order by President Daniel H. Wells.
The choir sang the hymn on page 302 of the Hymn Book, commencing—“When earth in bondage long had lain.”
Prayer by L. E. Harrington.
Choir sang hymn on page 61—“My God, the spring of all my joys.”
Elder Orson Pratt
then addressed the congregation, opening his discourse by referring to the organization of the Kingdom of God forty-four years ago to-day, and the nature of that organization, it being the Kingdom of God, organized on the earth, never to be thrown down again, but which was to continue from that time henceforth and forever. That Kingdom was not organized by man, nor by man’s wisdom, but by revelation from Jesus Christ, he having guided and directed everything in connection with it, and bestowed authority upon his chosen agents to perform the work. Christian denominations had been organized without revelation, their organizers not even pretending to have received one sentence from the Lord in relation to the work they had undertaken; and in this respect the Latter-day Saints differed widely and essentially from all other denominations of Christians. Men, without revelation, might organize a great variety of forms of government, both of a civil and ecclesiastical character; but though in the framing of these several organizations, their founders obtained all the information possible from history, sacred and secular, without revelation from heaven, they lacked the foundation and authority necessary to secure the approval of the Almighty, and to ensure recognition by him.
It was impossible for people to learn their duties to-day from what God had said to somebody else centuries ago. It would be just as reasonable, in the organization of a civil government, to say “The canon of laws is sealed up, and we need no legislators now, the laws framed by those who have lived are all-sufficient.” This would be quite as consistent as to suppose that God, eighteen hundred years ago, gave all the information he ever intended to give in relation to the guidance of his people and the government of his affairs here on the earth. In civil governments, continually changing circumstances required the continued labor of the legislator; the laws of last year would not meet all the requirements of this year, and those which were made ten years ago might be altogether unsuited for the events and circumstances of to-day.
The speaker then adduced instances of commands given by the Almighty, to individuals and communities in times past, which would be totally inapplicable to those now living; among them the command given to Abraham to leave his native land, Chaldea, to go to a land he knew not of, which was to be given him and his seed for an everlasting possession; also the command given to Moses to go and deliver Israel from Egypt. These and other instances referred to, and almost numberless others which might be adduced, were intended for and were binding to whom they were given. It was not so, however, with the great moral principles which God had at various times revealed, neither with the ordinances of the gospel; they were binding throughout all time upon all people when declared and made known to them. But in regard to special revelations and commandments, there would be thousands and tens of thousand given, during the establishment of God’s Kingdom in the last days, which would be binding only upon those to whom they came. Of this latter class several were mentioned, among them, a revelation given to Joseph Smith to organize baptized believers into the kingdom of God on the 6th of April, 1830; also one given through the Prophet Joseph to himself (the speaker) in November, 1830, commanding him to go forth and preach the gospel to the nations of the earth, to prepare the way of the Lord for his second coming, and to lift up his voice long and loud, and cry repentance to this crooked and perverse generation.
Elder Pratt then referred to the principle of consecration and to the practice thereof and the results it produced among the ancient inhabitants of North and South America, who, as the Book of Mormon informs us, were converted to the truth very shortly after the crucifixion of the Savior, who, soon after his resurrection and ascension in Asia, appeared to the people of this land, and organized his church among them, and so great were the manifestations of the power of God in their midst, that they were soon all converted to, and carried out, the law of full consecration, for a long period, realizing as the result thereof, a great foretaste of heaven upon earth. But when they apostatized from that order, God’s judgment speedily followed them, and they were finally almost wholly destroyed, in a great battle which took place in what is now called New York State.
In the early history of the church, God had revealed this law to the Latter-day Saints, and required them to obey it. They had failed to do so thus far; but now the servants of God were being moved upon to urge an order upon the attention and practice of the Saints, which would approximate to, and prepare them for, this high order, which must be practiced by all in the church when they returned to Jackson county to rebuild the waste places of Zion.
then addressed the congregation, opening his discourse by referring to the organization of the Kingdom of God forty-four years ago to-day, and the nature of that organization, it being the Kingdom of God, organized on the earth, never to be thrown down again, but which was to continue from that time henceforth and forever. That Kingdom was not organized by man, nor by man’s wisdom, but by revelation from Jesus Christ, he having guided and directed everything in connection with it, and bestowed authority upon his chosen agents to perform the work. Christian denominations had been organized without revelation, their organizers not even pretending to have received one sentence from the Lord in relation to the work they had undertaken; and in this respect the Latter-day Saints differed widely and essentially from all other denominations of Christians. Men, without revelation, might organize a great variety of forms of government, both of a civil and ecclesiastical character; but though in the framing of these several organizations, their founders obtained all the information possible from history, sacred and secular, without revelation from heaven, they lacked the foundation and authority necessary to secure the approval of the Almighty, and to ensure recognition by him.
It was impossible for people to learn their duties to-day from what God had said to somebody else centuries ago. It would be just as reasonable, in the organization of a civil government, to say “The canon of laws is sealed up, and we need no legislators now, the laws framed by those who have lived are all-sufficient.” This would be quite as consistent as to suppose that God, eighteen hundred years ago, gave all the information he ever intended to give in relation to the guidance of his people and the government of his affairs here on the earth. In civil governments, continually changing circumstances required the continued labor of the legislator; the laws of last year would not meet all the requirements of this year, and those which were made ten years ago might be altogether unsuited for the events and circumstances of to-day.
The speaker then adduced instances of commands given by the Almighty, to individuals and communities in times past, which would be totally inapplicable to those now living; among them the command given to Abraham to leave his native land, Chaldea, to go to a land he knew not of, which was to be given him and his seed for an everlasting possession; also the command given to Moses to go and deliver Israel from Egypt. These and other instances referred to, and almost numberless others which might be adduced, were intended for and were binding to whom they were given. It was not so, however, with the great moral principles which God had at various times revealed, neither with the ordinances of the gospel; they were binding throughout all time upon all people when declared and made known to them. But in regard to special revelations and commandments, there would be thousands and tens of thousand given, during the establishment of God’s Kingdom in the last days, which would be binding only upon those to whom they came. Of this latter class several were mentioned, among them, a revelation given to Joseph Smith to organize baptized believers into the kingdom of God on the 6th of April, 1830; also one given through the Prophet Joseph to himself (the speaker) in November, 1830, commanding him to go forth and preach the gospel to the nations of the earth, to prepare the way of the Lord for his second coming, and to lift up his voice long and loud, and cry repentance to this crooked and perverse generation.
Elder Pratt then referred to the principle of consecration and to the practice thereof and the results it produced among the ancient inhabitants of North and South America, who, as the Book of Mormon informs us, were converted to the truth very shortly after the crucifixion of the Savior, who, soon after his resurrection and ascension in Asia, appeared to the people of this land, and organized his church among them, and so great were the manifestations of the power of God in their midst, that they were soon all converted to, and carried out, the law of full consecration, for a long period, realizing as the result thereof, a great foretaste of heaven upon earth. But when they apostatized from that order, God’s judgment speedily followed them, and they were finally almost wholly destroyed, in a great battle which took place in what is now called New York State.
In the early history of the church, God had revealed this law to the Latter-day Saints, and required them to obey it. They had failed to do so thus far; but now the servants of God were being moved upon to urge an order upon the attention and practice of the Saints, which would approximate to, and prepare them for, this high order, which must be practiced by all in the church when they returned to Jackson county to rebuild the waste places of Zion.
The Kingdom not Organized By Man—Man Utterly Unable to Organize the Kingdom of God on the Earth Without Revelation—The Nephites and Lamanites Had All Things in Common—Consecration—The Danger of Pride—The United Order
Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered at the Forty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning, April 6, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
Forty-four years ago today, the Kingdom of God was organized on this earth, for the last time, never to be broken up, never to be confounded or thrown down, but to continue from that time, henceforth and forever. This kingdom was not organized by man, nor by the wisdom of man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, he having guided and directed, by revelation, everything in regard to its organization, and bestowed authority upon his servants to perform the work, and they being only agents or instruments in his hands.
All other Christian denominations for many long centuries, have been organized without revelation. The organizers of these various denominations did not even pretend that God had given them any information from Heaven; they did not even pretend that there was one sentence which had been received in their day from the Lord, in relation to the organization of their institutions. In this respect, the Latter-day Saints differ widely from all Christian denominations! It is an essential difference, a peculiar characteristic, and one of the utmost importance. Every person with a little reflection, can see that without divine information, man is utterly unable to organize the Kingdom of God on the earth. He may organize kingdoms, empires, republics and various kinds of civil government and a great variety of governments in a religious capacity, and when he has organized them they are without foundation and authority. The Lord communicates nothing to them, but they are compelled to ponder over that which had been revealed in former ages, and get all the information they can from what God spake formerly. But how impossible it is for people to learn their duties from what God said formerly to somebody else. We might as well, in the organization of a civil government, say, “the canon of laws is sealed up, we need no legislators or Congressmen.” If the question be asked why we do not need them, the answer is, “Oh, we depend upon the laws which were made by our fathers; they are sufficient for our guide.” Just fancy the people of this great republic being governed by the laws enacted in the first Congress after the revolutionary fathers framed the constitution.
Only think of all the people now appealing to those ancient laws, made before any of them were born, and having nothing further to govern them!
This would just be as consistent as it would be to suppose that God some eighteen hundred years ago, gave all the information that he ever intended to give in relation to the government of His kingdom and His affairs here on the earth. You know that in civil governments laws are continually required, circumstances call them forth. Laws made last year are not always suitable to the circumstances of this year, and those made ten years ago, might be altogether unsuitable for events now happening, and hence the necessity of something new, direct from the lawmaking department. So in regard to the kingdom of God. God spake to the ancients, but many of the words he spake then are not binding upon the people now. Some few of the great moral principles revealed to the ancients are binding forever, but the great majority of the revelations from Heaven were only suited to the individuals to whom they were given. Take, for instance, the case of Abram. He was living in Chaldea, the land of his fathers. The Lord spake to him, and commanded him to arise and leave his native country, and journey to a strange land, which was promised to him for an inheritance. Now, I ask, was any other people upon the face of the whole earth bound to obey this divine law given to Abraham? No; it was suited to him and to him only. If we were all under this ancient law, then every one of us would have to go to Chaldea; and after we got there we should have to leave that country and go to some land which we should expect to receive for an inheritance, which would be the very height of absurdity.
Again, when God led forth Abraham into the land of Palestine, we find that he not only communicated laws to him, but that he also made precious promises relating to him and his seed, which did not pertain to all the nations and kingdoms of the earth. God commanded Abraham on that occasion to arise, and to pass through the length and breadth of the land, and to go out on to a certain high place and to cast his eyes eastward and westward and northward and southward, for said the Lord unto him, “All this land which thou seest shall be given to thee, and to thy seed after thee for a possession.” Under this law have I been commanded to go to the land of Palestine and walk through the length and breadth of the land? Never. Have you been commanded to do it? Never. It is not a law that is binding upon us, neither was it binding upon future generations after the days of Abraham.
Again, when God made the promise to Abraham that he should have that land for a possession, and his literal seed after him, he did not mean you nor me, nor the generations of the earth who are not the literal descendants of Abraham.
Again, when God revealed himself to Moses, and told him to go down into Egypt and deliver Israel from bondage, that was a law binding upon Moses and Moses alone. The Latter-day Saints are not under that law, neither are any other people. So we might continue to multiply instances by thousands where God spake to individuals, and they, and they alone, were the persons who were to give heed to his laws. Again, where he spoke in some cases to the nation of Israel, Israel and Israel alone could obey those laws. But sometimes he would reveal to an individual or to a people certain great moral principles that were binding upon them and upon all people unto the ends of the earth, when they were made manifest unto them. Such laws are everlasting in their nature. Sometimes God revealed ordinances as well as commandments and laws. These ordinances were binding just as far as God revealed them for the people to attend to. For instance, the law of circumcision was binding upon Abraham and his seed, and was to be continued for a certain season, but by and by it was to be superseded by some other. God also revealed, in the days of the introduction of the Gospel, many eternal laws, different from those that had been revealed in former times. He revealed many things afresh and anew when he came personally on the earth, which had also been revealed prior to his day. For instance, we will take the law of faith, and repentance. These principles were taught in every dispensation, and were binding upon all people in the four quarters of the earth, and in all generations before Jesus came; they were eternal principles, and were to be continued forever. We will take, again, the law of baptism for the remission of sins. Wherever the Gospel was preached, this ordinance was binding upon the people. Wherever men were sent forth with the fullness of the plan of salvation to declare to the children of men, the law of baptism accompanied that message, and all people, as well as Israel, were required to obey that sacred ordinance.
In the latter days, when God establishes his kingdom on the earth for the last time, there will be thousands and tens of thousands of precepts and commandments revealed to certain individuals, which will be binding upon them alone. Then there will be other commandments that will be adapted to all the Church, and they will be binding upon the Church and upon the Church alone. Then there will be certain commandments that will be binding upon all nations, people and tongues, and blessed are they who give heed to the commandments and institutions and ordinances which pertain to them and which are adapted to their circumstances, and which are given for them to obey. But we will return again to the Church and kingdom.
Forty-four years have rolled over our heads since God gave commandment to a young man, a youth, to organize baptized believers into a Church, which was called the kingdom of God, not organized in its fullness, for there were not materials enough at that time to institute all the officers that were needed in that kingdom. The kingdom needed inspired Apostles, Seventies, High Priests after the order of Melchizedek; it needed the Priesthood of Aaron—the Levitical Priesthood, which the ancient Prophet said should be restored in the latter days. The kingdom needed all the appendages and blessings of these two Priesthoods, and there were not a sufficient number then baptized to make the organization perfect and complete; but so far as there were individuals the organization was commenced, although there were then only six members. Two of these were Apostles, called of God to be Apostles; called by new revelation to be Apostles; called by the ministration of angels to be Apostles; ordained by the laying on of hands of immortal personages from the eternal worlds. Hence, being ordained by this high authority, called by this high and holy calling, and chosen to go forth and organize the kingdom, and to preach the message of life and salvation among the children of men, they were obedient; and the other four individuals were organized in connection with them, upon the foundation that had been laid by the Lord himself, and not upon a creed that had been concocted in some council of uninspired men; not upon some articles of faith that were framed by uninspired men to guide and govern them; but what they received was by direct revelation. Not one step was taken without obtaining a revelation in regard to the manner of proceeding in relation to the laying of this foundation.
How very different this from the Methodists, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Church of England, and the various societies and denominations that exist throughout all the Protestant world; not one of them was organized in that way! Supposing that some of these Christian denominations should happen to get the form pretty nearly correct, and yet not have the authority, that would make all the difference. The form with the authority is one thing, and the form without the authority and divine appointment and ordination is another thing. One has power, but the other has not; one is recognized by the Lord Almighty, but the other is only recognized by man. I think we can see the difference between man's churches and God's Churches, between man's organization and God's organization. In the first place there never were a people, since Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden to the present day, who were acknowledged of God, unless they were founded and directed and counseled by him; unless there were a Priesthood having authority from him; unless God spake to them, and sent his angels to them. There never was a people, in any age of the world, whom God recognized as his people, without these characteristics. Says one, “How very uncharitable you Latter-day Saints are! You exclude the whole of us, you do not except one of our churches or good Christian denominations, and there are very good, moral people in them.” We do not dispute but what they are a very good, moral people; that is one thing, and a Christian Church is another. Morality is good in its place, and it must be in the Christian Church. Morality may exist outside of the Christian Church, but both cannot exist together without God organizes the Church.
Perhaps I have spoken sufficiently long upon the subject of the organization of the Church. I might enter fully into the investigation of these matters, and give you the particulars about the angels of God who descended from heaven and conferred the authority upon chosen vessels. I might tell you about the day which God set apart, and upon which he commanded that his Church should be organized, for the very day was mentioned by revelation. I might also relate to you many instructions that were given at that time to all the members of the kingdom of God. But I have other subjects upon my mind that seem to present themselves before me.
There have been probably scores of revelations given from time to time during the last forty-four years, which are not binding now, neither were they binding upon all the people at the time they were given. For instance, God gave a revelation, through his servant Joseph, on the 14th day of November, 1830, to your humble servant who is now speaking, commanding him to go forth and preach the Gospel among the nations of the earth, preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming, and to lift up his voice, both long and loud, and cry repentance to this crooked and perverse generation. I ask this congregation if there is an individual present here, but your humble servant who is under this direct command? No. If you have been commanded to do the same, you have been commanded by a distinct revelation. The revelation given to me was not given to any other individual, and was not binding upon any other. So in regard to the gathering up of the Saints. We were dwelling in the State of New York, and on the second day of January 1831, God commanded that all the Saints in that State, the State in which the Church was organized, and all who were dwelling in all the regions round about, should gather up to the State of Ohio. Is that a commandment binding upon any of this congregation? Not one of them, it was only suited to the circumstances that then extend, and when fulfilled it was no longer even binding upon them. The Lord gave a commandment after we had gathered up to the land of Kirtland, that some of his servants should go forth, two by two, preaching through Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, that they should meet together in general Conference on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and that the Lord God would reveal unto them the land which should be given unto them for an everlasting inheritance. These persons were commanded to do this. This commandment was binding upon them and them alone. They were the individuals who were commanded to do this work—it was not required of the rest of the Church. They fulfilled their appointment—as many as were faithful went through, two by two, on different routes, preaching and calling upon the people to repent and be baptized, confirming them by the water side, and organizing Churches. Finally those persons thus commanded assembled in August and September, on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, in Jackson County. Then the commandment was fulfilled; and it was no longer binding upon those to whom it was given. Thus you see that what is suitable for this month is not always suitable for next month, and what is suitable for today is not always suitable for tomorrow. It needs new revelation.
When these missionaries assembled in Jackson County, the Prophet Joseph, being with them, inquired still further, and a commandment was given on that occasion, before the Church had gathered, except one small branch, called the Coalsville Branch, and that commandment was to be binding upon all the Latter-day Saints who should gather up to that land. What was it? That all the people who should gather to Jackson County, the land of their inheritance, should consecrate all their property, everything they had—they were to withhold nothing. Their gold and silver, their bedding, household furniture, their wearing apparel and everything they possessed was to be consecrated. That placed the people on a level, for when everything a people has is consecrated they are all equally rich. There is not one poor and another rich, for they all possess nothing. I do not know but you might call that poor; but they have something in common, namely, that which they have consecrated, and this brings me to an item which I happened to think of just about half a minute before I arose.
I will now read to you what took place on this American continent thirty-six years after the birth of Christ. Jesus appeared here on this continent and organized his Church. He chose twelve disciples and commanded them to go and preach the Gospel in both the land south and the land north, and they did so. This extract gives us a little information about the repentance of the people—“And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.”
Now, was not that a marvel? Perhaps you may ask how it was that they were all so easily converted. That would be a very natural question to arise in the minds of many, for they must have been a very different people from those living nowadays. We have preached, year after year, and have only converted here and there one. But all those millions, inhabiting both North and South America, were converted unto the Lord. Was not that a wonderment? If I explain a little what took place beforehand, it will clear up the wonderment a little.
Just before Christ was crucified in the land of Jerusalem, the people on this land had become exceedingly wicked, and it was foretold to them by their Prophets that, when Jesus, their Savior, should be crucified in the land of their fathers, there should be great destruction come upon those who were wicked in this land, and that many of their cities should be destroyed—they should be sunk and burned with fire, and God would visit them in great and terrible judgments if they did not repent and prepare for the coming of their Savior, for they expected him to appear after his resurrection. The wicked did not repent, and all those destructions came, just as the Prophets foretold. Darkness covered the face of this land for three days and three nights, while at Jerusalem it was only three hours. Three days and three nights they suffered darkness upon all the face of this land, and very many of their cities, which were great and populous, were sunk, and lakes came up instead of them; a great many were burned with fire, a great many were destroyed by terrible tempests, and a great destruction came upon the wicked portions of the people, who had stoned and put the Prophets to death, and only the more righteous portion of the people were spared.
In the latter part of the year in which Jesus was put to death, he descended among a certain portion of the people on this continent, gathered in the northern part of what we term South America. He descended from heaven and stood in their midst; and on the next day, when a larger multitude were gathered together, he came a second time and there were a great many thousands on that occasion. He often appeared to them after that period, within the course of one or two years, and he chose twelve disciples, and so great was the power made manifest before those thousands, that when they went forth into the north and south and preached the word, according to the commandments of God, the more righteous portion of the people, who had been spared, and who had humbled themselves and partially repented, but did not understand the fullness of the Gospel, were easily converted, and that is the reason why all the people in North and South America were converted unto the Lord; and in the thirty-sixth year, reckoning from the birth of Jesus, they were not only all converted upon the face of this whole land, but they were all organized upon a common stock principle, and there were no poor among them, and they dealt justly one with another.
Says one, “They did the same thing in the land of Jerusalem.” Yes, but they did not keep it up in the land of Palestine—they seem to have failed, for we have no account that this common stock principle, as at first organized, continued among the Saints on the Asiatic Continent. Churches were built up in various parts of Asia and Europe, one in one place, another in another, and they all seem to have had property of their own; and I believe, myself, that they were unprepared, in their scattered condition, to enter into this order of things. There was too much wickedness at Ephesus, in Galatia, at Corinth, and in the various places where small branches were organized, to enter into this common stock principle, and carry it out successfully. But on this continent there was a fine opportunity for all the people, millions and millions of them were in the same faith. How easily, then, could they be guided and directed, and put in their property, and organize it as a common stock fund; and they did so, and were exceedingly blessed and prospered in their operation. And I will tell you how long it existed—about one-hundred and sixty-five years. But in the year two hundred and one after the birth of Christ, the people began to be lifted up, on this continent, in pride and popularity, and began to withdraw their funds from this common stock, and take them into their own hands, and call them their own, and they continued to do this, until the great majority of the people had corrupted themselves and withdrawn from this order. Then, after having broken up this common fund in a great measure, only a few individuals here and there still holding on to it, they became proud and high-minded, and lifted up in their hearts, and looked down upon those who were not so prosperous as themselves, and in this way a distinction of classes was again introduced, and the rich began to persecute the poor; and thus they continued to apostatize, until, about three hundred and thirty-four years after Christ, they began to have great and terrible wars among themselves, which lasted about fifty years, during which millions of them were destroyed. Finally, they became so utterly wicked, so fully ripened for destruction, that one branch of the nation, called the Nephites, gathered their entire people around the hill Cumorah, in the State of New York, in Ontario County; and the Lamanites, the opposite army, gathered by millions in the same region. The two nations were four years in gathering their forces, during which no fighting took place; but at the end of that time, having marshalled all their hosts, the fighting commenced, the Lamanites coming upon the Nephites, and destroying all of them, except a very few, who had previously deserted over to the Lamanites.
Before this decisive battle, the Nephites, who had kept records of their nation, written on gold plates, hid them up in the hill Cumorah, where they have lain from that day to this. Mormon committed a few plates to his son Moroni, who was a Prophet and who survived the nation of the Nephites about thirty-six years, and he kept these few plates, while all the balance of them were hid up in that hill; and then, Moroni, being commanded of God, hid up the few plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.
I make mention of these circumstances for the purpose of showing you that, when people have been once enlightened as the Nephites were, and have had all things common, and have been blessed with an abundance of the riches of the earth, working together in harmony, until riches were poured out upon them in vast abundance, and then withdraw themselves from the order of God, they soon bring swift destruction upon their heads. We see the Nephites, after taking this course, descending lower and lower in their wickedness, going into idolatry, offering up human sacrifices unto their idol gods, and committing every species of abomination that they had ever known or heard of, all because they had been once enlightened and had apostatized from the truth, and withdrawn from the order of God, in which their forefathers had had a long experience.
The Lord gave a caution to the Latter-day Saints, when he told them, in a revelation, given in 1831, to enter into the same order pertaining to our possessions in Jackson County. Prior to that, he gave us a promise, saying, that if we would be faithful we should become the richest of all people; but if we would not be faithful in keeping his commandments, but should become lifted up in the pride of our hearts, we should, perhaps, become like the Nephites of old. “Beware of pride,” says the Lord, in one of these revelations, “lest you become like the Nephites of old.”
I have no doubt that you Latter-day Saints are the best people on the face of the earth. God has gathered you out from among the nations; you were the only people, to whom the message of life and salvation was sent, who received the missionaries of the Most High when they came to your respective nations. You not only received the Gospel of repentance and baptism, but you hearkened to those missionaries and the counsels of God, and gathered to this land. Hence, you have done better than all other people, and you have been blessed above all other people. But there is danger, after having been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and having had the gifts of the Spirit made manifest more or less according to our faith, if we become lifted up in the pride of our hearts and think, because we have gathered an abundance of the wealth of this world, that we are a little better than our poor brother who labors eight or ten hours a day at the hardest kind of labor. Any person having the name of Latter-day Saint who feels that he is better than, and distinguishes himself from, the poor and supposes that he belongs to a little higher class than they, is in danger. “Beware of pride, lest you become like unto the Nephites of old.”
In order that this pride may be done away, there must necessarily be another order of things in regard to property.
Why does pride exist at all? Let us make a little inquiry about this. Do you know the reason? It all arises out of the love of riches. This is what generally constitutes pride. Now supposing you were all brought on a level in regard to property by a full consecration of everything that you have into a common stock fund, would there be among that number one who should thus consecrate all that he had, who would have anything to boast of above his neighbor? Not at all. He might have the use of property, one man might have perhaps a hundred times more than another, to use as a steward or agent for this general fund; but when he has used it, he has his living out of it—his food, his raiment, the necessaries and comforts of life, whether he handles hundreds of thousands or merely a small stewardship, for the man that takes charge of a great manufacturing establishment would require more funds than he who has a small farm, but the funds would not belong to him, he only has his food, raiment and the necessaries and comforts of life. But here is another branch of business, just as important, as far as it goes, as this large manufacturing establishment. What is it? To make mortar, to lay up our buildings, for without them we should soon suffer. The man who makes mortar, then, is just as honorable as the man who takes charge of a large establishment which requires five hundred thousand dollars to carry it on. But in both cases, the surplus of their labor, after taking therefrom the necessaries of life, goes to the common stock fund; and the man who has had charge of the large establishment has nothing that he can boast of over the man who makes mortar—one is just as rich as the other.
But I know there are many Latter-day Saints who have formed an erroneous idea or opinion in regard to this common stock fund. Some for want of reflection, may suppose that every man and every woman must have the same fashioned houses to live in, or there would not be an equality; they must have the same amount of furniture, or there would not be an equality. Some may suppose that all must have the same kind of bedding and everything precisely alike or there would be no equality. But this is not the way God manifests himself in all the works of his hands. Go to the field, the pasture or meadow, and learn wisdom. Search from one end of the pasture to the other and see if you can find two blades of grass that are exactly alike. It cannot be done, there is a little deviation, a little variety, and hence we see from this that God delights in variety. But because one blade of grass might be formed a little more pleasing to the eye than another, would the first have any right, if it could reason, to say, “I am above that other?” Not at all. It was made for a certain purpose, and so in regard to everything else. No two men upon the face of the earth have the same features. We have the general characteristics of the human form, and we do not look like the original of man according to Darwin's idea; we do not look like the monkey or baboon, from which Darwin says man originated. Men the world over have many features bearing a general resemblance, and their form is molded in the image of the Most High. But when you come to scan the features of man minutely, you will see some deviation in the countenances of all men throughout all creation. Now, are they not equal? Do those little distinguishing characteristics in the features make them unequal? Not in the least. Then, because it might fall to my lot to make mortar, and to another man's to take charge of a great store of merchandise, both of us being agents, that does not make the mercantile agent any better than the man who makes the mortar, and I should not expect to wear the same kind of apparel that the man did who was behind the counter. If I was making mortar I should not want on broadcloth, silk, or satin; I should want apparel adapted to the particular class of labor I was engaged in. Hence, there will be a distinction in these things.
Then again, do you suppose that when we come together it would be pleasing in the sight of God for every man and every woman to have on a Quaker bonnet or dress, or to pattern after the Shaking Quakers; that each of the ladies should have on a ribbon that should come under the bonnet, and be of just the same length? Not at all. God delights in variety; we see it throughout all the works of his hands, in every department of creation. Therefore men and women will dress according to their tastes, so far as they can get the means.
You draw your means from the common stock fund, and if you have stewardships set apart to you to manage, and you make little in the stewardships, the Bishops who take charge of these matters will not begin to inquire of you, “Well, brother, what kind of a hat have you worn? Was it straw, and was the straw just so fine or just so coarse, or was it a palm leaf hat you wore? I should like to know what kind of a hat band you have had? Was it a hat band having a bow knot, and, if so, was it any longer than your neighbors?” No such questions as these will be asked; but each man, each family in the stewardship, whatever they make, can exercise their own judgment in regard to many of these things, as they do now; and when you come together on Sunday, it is not expected that every man's and every woman's tastes would be to dress precisely like their neighbors, but have variety, and that out of the means of your stewardship.
But when you come to render up an account of that stewardship to the Bishop at the end of the year, there may be some prominent, leading questions asked, but not about these little matters. It will be asked if you have squandered your stewardship unnecessarily; have you been very extravagant in things unnecessary, and neglected other things of importance? If you have done these things, you will be counted an unwise steward, and you will be reproved; and perhaps, if you have gone too far, you may be removed out of your stewardship, and another person more worthy may step into it, and you be dropped because of doing wrong. But there never will be any Bishop, who has the Spirit of the living God upon him, who will inquire whether you have the same size stoves in your house, and the same kind of plates, knives, forks, and spoons as your neighbor; but you will have to give an account of those prominent items. That is the way I look at this common stock operation.
Then again, I do not know that the common stock operation which God commanded us to enter into in Jackson County, Mo., will be suitable in the year 1874. I commenced my discourse by showing that what was suitable one year was not always suitable the next. I do not know but here in Utah it may be necessary to vary materially from the principles that were commanded to be observed in Jackson County, Mo. I do not know but we may be required here to not only consecrate all that we have, but even ourselves as well as the property we possess, so that we may be directed by the Bishops and their counselors, or whoever may be appointed, in regard to all our daily avocations. I do not know how it will be. I have not heard. Down in Jackson County they were not thus directed. Every man got his stewardship, and he occupied it, and rendered an account of the same from time to time. But I do not know but it may be necessary here in Utah that we should be directed oftener than once a year, it may be that we shall be told weekly, and perhaps in some cases daily; and perhaps the Bishop or overseer may say today, “Here, brother, I would like you to do so and so today,” and tomorrow he comes along and says, “I would like you to stop that now; we have something else on hand; come with me, I will put in my hands as well as you, for, although you have selected me by your own voice to take charge, I am no better than you are, therefore I will take hold with you and do all I can in connection with you, and let us go at this business today.” Tomorrow there may be something else, and the next day something else, perhaps, according to the judgment of the Bishop and those who are appointed with him. In this way we could, perhaps, more effectually carry out the mind and will of God here in this desert country, than we could if we tried to imitate the pattern which was given to us in another country.
We cannot work here as we could in Jackson County, Mo. In that country we did not have to irrigate. We could settle on a piece of rising ground there, and the rains of heaven watered it. We could settle in the valley, and there were no ditches to be made. We could settle in any part of the county, or of the counties round about, and the rains of heaven would descend and water our land. And furthermore, there was timber all around, groves of timber, and we could go out before breakfast and get a load of wood, and in the course of a few days split rails enough to fence considerable of a patch of ground. Here we have to labor under other circumstances. Here we have not timber so that every man can fence his little farm or stewardship; we have not strength enough. If we happen to farm on some of these high grounds, it is very difficult to dig canals and water ditches to water our little stewardships. What shall we do, then? Join in together, be of one heart and one mind, and let there be a common stock fund, so far as property is concerned, and so far as our own individual labor is concerned. Consequently, we need not think, because we may not be organized precisely according to the law that was adapted to Jackson County, that this counseling is void of the Spirit of God. Do not let any person begin to think this. You need to cooperate together in your labors. This is necessary in fencing a great many of our farms. You need to cooperate in getting out your water from your water ditches to water your land, and you need to do it in a great many other respects.
For instance, these mountains, which rise so majestically on the east and on the west, are full of rich minerals, this is one of the richest countries in the world. Will not some of the Latter-day Saints eventually be required to act in the department of mining as well as in the department of agriculture? Yes. Can one individual do as well as half a dozen, or as well as a hundred, at mining? It may require the experience of a vast amount of labor in order to develop the resources of these mountains, and in that case, cooperation will be absolutely necessary.
“But,” says one, “the Gentiles have already done that.” But very little, I will assure you. Here and there they have opened a mine, but not one thousandth nor one ten-thousandth of that which exists and which will be developed hereafter. Now, in all these departments the Latter-day Saints must learn to be united, and I am glad to see, I rejoice exceedingly to hear, that the President has been moved upon, not only before he left Salt Lake City to go down South, but while he has been there, to alter the order of things that has existed for many years here in these mountains, among the Latter-day Saints. In what respect? To bring about a united order of things in regard to their property and labor, and the development of the resources of our farming land; in regard to raising flocks and herds, building, and developing the mineral resources of our mountains. In all these respects, the President has seen the necessity of beginning to bring about, gradually, as the way may open, a different order of things that will strike the axe at the root of this pride and distinction of classes. I am glad; I rejoice in it. Several of the Branches of the Church south have already entered into this order.
Inquires one, “What is it, what kind of an order is it? Tell us all about it.” I would tell you as much as I thought was wisdom, if I understood it myself; but I do not; I have had but very little information about it. Suffice to say that I know that the order of things that could have been carried out successfully in Jackson County cannot be carried out here, on the same principle, without a little variation. It cannot be done—circumstances require different laws, different counsel, an order of things suited to the condition of this desert country.
“Are all the people going directly into this thing at once.” “Yes, if they choose;” but you may depend upon it that in all cases whenever God has moved upon his servants to introduce anything for the good of the people, it takes time for the people to receive it—they do not receive it all in a moment. The Lord is long-suffering—he bears with the weaknesses and traditions of the people for a long time. When, by the mouths of his servants, he counsels the people to do this, that, or the other, and they are a little backward about it, he does not come out in judgment as he did to ancient Israel, and cut them off by thousands and tens of thousands. He does not do that, but he bears with them, waits year after year. How long he has borne with all of us! Forty-three years ago we were commanded to become one in regard to our property. Forty-three years we have been in disobedience. Forty-three years have rolled over our heads, and we are far from oneness still. God has not cut us off, as he did ancient Israel, but he has borne with us. Oh, how patient and long-suffering he has been with us, perhaps thinking, “Peradventure, they will, by and by, return, reform, repent, and obey my commandments that I gave them in the first rise of the Church. I will wait upon them, I will extend forth my hand to them all the day long, and see whether they will be obedient.” That is the way the Lord feels towards us. Should we not pattern after him? If this order of things should reach Salt Lake City, if these different wards should begin to be organized in some measure, and the people begin to be divided, some entering into the order and others refusing, should we not bear with those who do not? Yes, bear with them, just as the Lord has borne with us, and not begin to think that we are better than our neighbors who have not entered into the order, and flatter ourselves that we are above them, and revile and persecute them, and exercise our influence against them, saying, “Oh, they do not belong to the united order of God, they are outside of it, and consequently we have not much respect for them.” We must not do this, for perhaps, though we may think we are on a firm foundation, it may slip from under us, and we also may be brought into straightened circumstances. If we exercise patience, long-suffering, and forbearance with the people until they learn by experience what God is doing in our midst, many of these rich people may come into the order, who now say in their hearts, “We will wait and see whether this thing will prosper.” If they are honest in heart, they will finally come to the conclusion that the people in the united order are a happy people; they are not lifted up in pride one above another, and they will say, “I think I will go there, with all I have; I will become one of them;” and in a little while they will come along, while others, perhaps, will apostatize entirely. However, if they want to go, let them go, they are of no particular benefit if they feel to apostatize from anything which God has established for the benefit of the people. May God bless you. Amen.
At the close of Elder Pratt’s remarks, President Wells moved that the Conference adjourn until Thursday the 7th of May, to meet at 10 o’clock in the morning in the New Tabernacle; the motion was carried unanimously.
The choir sang the anthem—Oh! Be joyful in the Lord, and the Conference was dismissed with benediction by Elder W. Woodruff.
Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered at the Forty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning, April 6, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
Forty-four years ago today, the Kingdom of God was organized on this earth, for the last time, never to be broken up, never to be confounded or thrown down, but to continue from that time, henceforth and forever. This kingdom was not organized by man, nor by the wisdom of man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, he having guided and directed, by revelation, everything in regard to its organization, and bestowed authority upon his servants to perform the work, and they being only agents or instruments in his hands.
All other Christian denominations for many long centuries, have been organized without revelation. The organizers of these various denominations did not even pretend that God had given them any information from Heaven; they did not even pretend that there was one sentence which had been received in their day from the Lord, in relation to the organization of their institutions. In this respect, the Latter-day Saints differ widely from all Christian denominations! It is an essential difference, a peculiar characteristic, and one of the utmost importance. Every person with a little reflection, can see that without divine information, man is utterly unable to organize the Kingdom of God on the earth. He may organize kingdoms, empires, republics and various kinds of civil government and a great variety of governments in a religious capacity, and when he has organized them they are without foundation and authority. The Lord communicates nothing to them, but they are compelled to ponder over that which had been revealed in former ages, and get all the information they can from what God spake formerly. But how impossible it is for people to learn their duties from what God said formerly to somebody else. We might as well, in the organization of a civil government, say, “the canon of laws is sealed up, we need no legislators or Congressmen.” If the question be asked why we do not need them, the answer is, “Oh, we depend upon the laws which were made by our fathers; they are sufficient for our guide.” Just fancy the people of this great republic being governed by the laws enacted in the first Congress after the revolutionary fathers framed the constitution.
Only think of all the people now appealing to those ancient laws, made before any of them were born, and having nothing further to govern them!
This would just be as consistent as it would be to suppose that God some eighteen hundred years ago, gave all the information that he ever intended to give in relation to the government of His kingdom and His affairs here on the earth. You know that in civil governments laws are continually required, circumstances call them forth. Laws made last year are not always suitable to the circumstances of this year, and those made ten years ago, might be altogether unsuitable for events now happening, and hence the necessity of something new, direct from the lawmaking department. So in regard to the kingdom of God. God spake to the ancients, but many of the words he spake then are not binding upon the people now. Some few of the great moral principles revealed to the ancients are binding forever, but the great majority of the revelations from Heaven were only suited to the individuals to whom they were given. Take, for instance, the case of Abram. He was living in Chaldea, the land of his fathers. The Lord spake to him, and commanded him to arise and leave his native country, and journey to a strange land, which was promised to him for an inheritance. Now, I ask, was any other people upon the face of the whole earth bound to obey this divine law given to Abraham? No; it was suited to him and to him only. If we were all under this ancient law, then every one of us would have to go to Chaldea; and after we got there we should have to leave that country and go to some land which we should expect to receive for an inheritance, which would be the very height of absurdity.
Again, when God led forth Abraham into the land of Palestine, we find that he not only communicated laws to him, but that he also made precious promises relating to him and his seed, which did not pertain to all the nations and kingdoms of the earth. God commanded Abraham on that occasion to arise, and to pass through the length and breadth of the land, and to go out on to a certain high place and to cast his eyes eastward and westward and northward and southward, for said the Lord unto him, “All this land which thou seest shall be given to thee, and to thy seed after thee for a possession.” Under this law have I been commanded to go to the land of Palestine and walk through the length and breadth of the land? Never. Have you been commanded to do it? Never. It is not a law that is binding upon us, neither was it binding upon future generations after the days of Abraham.
Again, when God made the promise to Abraham that he should have that land for a possession, and his literal seed after him, he did not mean you nor me, nor the generations of the earth who are not the literal descendants of Abraham.
Again, when God revealed himself to Moses, and told him to go down into Egypt and deliver Israel from bondage, that was a law binding upon Moses and Moses alone. The Latter-day Saints are not under that law, neither are any other people. So we might continue to multiply instances by thousands where God spake to individuals, and they, and they alone, were the persons who were to give heed to his laws. Again, where he spoke in some cases to the nation of Israel, Israel and Israel alone could obey those laws. But sometimes he would reveal to an individual or to a people certain great moral principles that were binding upon them and upon all people unto the ends of the earth, when they were made manifest unto them. Such laws are everlasting in their nature. Sometimes God revealed ordinances as well as commandments and laws. These ordinances were binding just as far as God revealed them for the people to attend to. For instance, the law of circumcision was binding upon Abraham and his seed, and was to be continued for a certain season, but by and by it was to be superseded by some other. God also revealed, in the days of the introduction of the Gospel, many eternal laws, different from those that had been revealed in former times. He revealed many things afresh and anew when he came personally on the earth, which had also been revealed prior to his day. For instance, we will take the law of faith, and repentance. These principles were taught in every dispensation, and were binding upon all people in the four quarters of the earth, and in all generations before Jesus came; they were eternal principles, and were to be continued forever. We will take, again, the law of baptism for the remission of sins. Wherever the Gospel was preached, this ordinance was binding upon the people. Wherever men were sent forth with the fullness of the plan of salvation to declare to the children of men, the law of baptism accompanied that message, and all people, as well as Israel, were required to obey that sacred ordinance.
In the latter days, when God establishes his kingdom on the earth for the last time, there will be thousands and tens of thousands of precepts and commandments revealed to certain individuals, which will be binding upon them alone. Then there will be other commandments that will be adapted to all the Church, and they will be binding upon the Church and upon the Church alone. Then there will be certain commandments that will be binding upon all nations, people and tongues, and blessed are they who give heed to the commandments and institutions and ordinances which pertain to them and which are adapted to their circumstances, and which are given for them to obey. But we will return again to the Church and kingdom.
Forty-four years have rolled over our heads since God gave commandment to a young man, a youth, to organize baptized believers into a Church, which was called the kingdom of God, not organized in its fullness, for there were not materials enough at that time to institute all the officers that were needed in that kingdom. The kingdom needed inspired Apostles, Seventies, High Priests after the order of Melchizedek; it needed the Priesthood of Aaron—the Levitical Priesthood, which the ancient Prophet said should be restored in the latter days. The kingdom needed all the appendages and blessings of these two Priesthoods, and there were not a sufficient number then baptized to make the organization perfect and complete; but so far as there were individuals the organization was commenced, although there were then only six members. Two of these were Apostles, called of God to be Apostles; called by new revelation to be Apostles; called by the ministration of angels to be Apostles; ordained by the laying on of hands of immortal personages from the eternal worlds. Hence, being ordained by this high authority, called by this high and holy calling, and chosen to go forth and organize the kingdom, and to preach the message of life and salvation among the children of men, they were obedient; and the other four individuals were organized in connection with them, upon the foundation that had been laid by the Lord himself, and not upon a creed that had been concocted in some council of uninspired men; not upon some articles of faith that were framed by uninspired men to guide and govern them; but what they received was by direct revelation. Not one step was taken without obtaining a revelation in regard to the manner of proceeding in relation to the laying of this foundation.
How very different this from the Methodists, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Church of England, and the various societies and denominations that exist throughout all the Protestant world; not one of them was organized in that way! Supposing that some of these Christian denominations should happen to get the form pretty nearly correct, and yet not have the authority, that would make all the difference. The form with the authority is one thing, and the form without the authority and divine appointment and ordination is another thing. One has power, but the other has not; one is recognized by the Lord Almighty, but the other is only recognized by man. I think we can see the difference between man's churches and God's Churches, between man's organization and God's organization. In the first place there never were a people, since Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden to the present day, who were acknowledged of God, unless they were founded and directed and counseled by him; unless there were a Priesthood having authority from him; unless God spake to them, and sent his angels to them. There never was a people, in any age of the world, whom God recognized as his people, without these characteristics. Says one, “How very uncharitable you Latter-day Saints are! You exclude the whole of us, you do not except one of our churches or good Christian denominations, and there are very good, moral people in them.” We do not dispute but what they are a very good, moral people; that is one thing, and a Christian Church is another. Morality is good in its place, and it must be in the Christian Church. Morality may exist outside of the Christian Church, but both cannot exist together without God organizes the Church.
Perhaps I have spoken sufficiently long upon the subject of the organization of the Church. I might enter fully into the investigation of these matters, and give you the particulars about the angels of God who descended from heaven and conferred the authority upon chosen vessels. I might tell you about the day which God set apart, and upon which he commanded that his Church should be organized, for the very day was mentioned by revelation. I might also relate to you many instructions that were given at that time to all the members of the kingdom of God. But I have other subjects upon my mind that seem to present themselves before me.
There have been probably scores of revelations given from time to time during the last forty-four years, which are not binding now, neither were they binding upon all the people at the time they were given. For instance, God gave a revelation, through his servant Joseph, on the 14th day of November, 1830, to your humble servant who is now speaking, commanding him to go forth and preach the Gospel among the nations of the earth, preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming, and to lift up his voice, both long and loud, and cry repentance to this crooked and perverse generation. I ask this congregation if there is an individual present here, but your humble servant who is under this direct command? No. If you have been commanded to do the same, you have been commanded by a distinct revelation. The revelation given to me was not given to any other individual, and was not binding upon any other. So in regard to the gathering up of the Saints. We were dwelling in the State of New York, and on the second day of January 1831, God commanded that all the Saints in that State, the State in which the Church was organized, and all who were dwelling in all the regions round about, should gather up to the State of Ohio. Is that a commandment binding upon any of this congregation? Not one of them, it was only suited to the circumstances that then extend, and when fulfilled it was no longer even binding upon them. The Lord gave a commandment after we had gathered up to the land of Kirtland, that some of his servants should go forth, two by two, preaching through Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, that they should meet together in general Conference on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and that the Lord God would reveal unto them the land which should be given unto them for an everlasting inheritance. These persons were commanded to do this. This commandment was binding upon them and them alone. They were the individuals who were commanded to do this work—it was not required of the rest of the Church. They fulfilled their appointment—as many as were faithful went through, two by two, on different routes, preaching and calling upon the people to repent and be baptized, confirming them by the water side, and organizing Churches. Finally those persons thus commanded assembled in August and September, on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, in Jackson County. Then the commandment was fulfilled; and it was no longer binding upon those to whom it was given. Thus you see that what is suitable for this month is not always suitable for next month, and what is suitable for today is not always suitable for tomorrow. It needs new revelation.
When these missionaries assembled in Jackson County, the Prophet Joseph, being with them, inquired still further, and a commandment was given on that occasion, before the Church had gathered, except one small branch, called the Coalsville Branch, and that commandment was to be binding upon all the Latter-day Saints who should gather up to that land. What was it? That all the people who should gather to Jackson County, the land of their inheritance, should consecrate all their property, everything they had—they were to withhold nothing. Their gold and silver, their bedding, household furniture, their wearing apparel and everything they possessed was to be consecrated. That placed the people on a level, for when everything a people has is consecrated they are all equally rich. There is not one poor and another rich, for they all possess nothing. I do not know but you might call that poor; but they have something in common, namely, that which they have consecrated, and this brings me to an item which I happened to think of just about half a minute before I arose.
I will now read to you what took place on this American continent thirty-six years after the birth of Christ. Jesus appeared here on this continent and organized his Church. He chose twelve disciples and commanded them to go and preach the Gospel in both the land south and the land north, and they did so. This extract gives us a little information about the repentance of the people—“And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.”
Now, was not that a marvel? Perhaps you may ask how it was that they were all so easily converted. That would be a very natural question to arise in the minds of many, for they must have been a very different people from those living nowadays. We have preached, year after year, and have only converted here and there one. But all those millions, inhabiting both North and South America, were converted unto the Lord. Was not that a wonderment? If I explain a little what took place beforehand, it will clear up the wonderment a little.
Just before Christ was crucified in the land of Jerusalem, the people on this land had become exceedingly wicked, and it was foretold to them by their Prophets that, when Jesus, their Savior, should be crucified in the land of their fathers, there should be great destruction come upon those who were wicked in this land, and that many of their cities should be destroyed—they should be sunk and burned with fire, and God would visit them in great and terrible judgments if they did not repent and prepare for the coming of their Savior, for they expected him to appear after his resurrection. The wicked did not repent, and all those destructions came, just as the Prophets foretold. Darkness covered the face of this land for three days and three nights, while at Jerusalem it was only three hours. Three days and three nights they suffered darkness upon all the face of this land, and very many of their cities, which were great and populous, were sunk, and lakes came up instead of them; a great many were burned with fire, a great many were destroyed by terrible tempests, and a great destruction came upon the wicked portions of the people, who had stoned and put the Prophets to death, and only the more righteous portion of the people were spared.
In the latter part of the year in which Jesus was put to death, he descended among a certain portion of the people on this continent, gathered in the northern part of what we term South America. He descended from heaven and stood in their midst; and on the next day, when a larger multitude were gathered together, he came a second time and there were a great many thousands on that occasion. He often appeared to them after that period, within the course of one or two years, and he chose twelve disciples, and so great was the power made manifest before those thousands, that when they went forth into the north and south and preached the word, according to the commandments of God, the more righteous portion of the people, who had been spared, and who had humbled themselves and partially repented, but did not understand the fullness of the Gospel, were easily converted, and that is the reason why all the people in North and South America were converted unto the Lord; and in the thirty-sixth year, reckoning from the birth of Jesus, they were not only all converted upon the face of this whole land, but they were all organized upon a common stock principle, and there were no poor among them, and they dealt justly one with another.
Says one, “They did the same thing in the land of Jerusalem.” Yes, but they did not keep it up in the land of Palestine—they seem to have failed, for we have no account that this common stock principle, as at first organized, continued among the Saints on the Asiatic Continent. Churches were built up in various parts of Asia and Europe, one in one place, another in another, and they all seem to have had property of their own; and I believe, myself, that they were unprepared, in their scattered condition, to enter into this order of things. There was too much wickedness at Ephesus, in Galatia, at Corinth, and in the various places where small branches were organized, to enter into this common stock principle, and carry it out successfully. But on this continent there was a fine opportunity for all the people, millions and millions of them were in the same faith. How easily, then, could they be guided and directed, and put in their property, and organize it as a common stock fund; and they did so, and were exceedingly blessed and prospered in their operation. And I will tell you how long it existed—about one-hundred and sixty-five years. But in the year two hundred and one after the birth of Christ, the people began to be lifted up, on this continent, in pride and popularity, and began to withdraw their funds from this common stock, and take them into their own hands, and call them their own, and they continued to do this, until the great majority of the people had corrupted themselves and withdrawn from this order. Then, after having broken up this common fund in a great measure, only a few individuals here and there still holding on to it, they became proud and high-minded, and lifted up in their hearts, and looked down upon those who were not so prosperous as themselves, and in this way a distinction of classes was again introduced, and the rich began to persecute the poor; and thus they continued to apostatize, until, about three hundred and thirty-four years after Christ, they began to have great and terrible wars among themselves, which lasted about fifty years, during which millions of them were destroyed. Finally, they became so utterly wicked, so fully ripened for destruction, that one branch of the nation, called the Nephites, gathered their entire people around the hill Cumorah, in the State of New York, in Ontario County; and the Lamanites, the opposite army, gathered by millions in the same region. The two nations were four years in gathering their forces, during which no fighting took place; but at the end of that time, having marshalled all their hosts, the fighting commenced, the Lamanites coming upon the Nephites, and destroying all of them, except a very few, who had previously deserted over to the Lamanites.
Before this decisive battle, the Nephites, who had kept records of their nation, written on gold plates, hid them up in the hill Cumorah, where they have lain from that day to this. Mormon committed a few plates to his son Moroni, who was a Prophet and who survived the nation of the Nephites about thirty-six years, and he kept these few plates, while all the balance of them were hid up in that hill; and then, Moroni, being commanded of God, hid up the few plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.
I make mention of these circumstances for the purpose of showing you that, when people have been once enlightened as the Nephites were, and have had all things common, and have been blessed with an abundance of the riches of the earth, working together in harmony, until riches were poured out upon them in vast abundance, and then withdraw themselves from the order of God, they soon bring swift destruction upon their heads. We see the Nephites, after taking this course, descending lower and lower in their wickedness, going into idolatry, offering up human sacrifices unto their idol gods, and committing every species of abomination that they had ever known or heard of, all because they had been once enlightened and had apostatized from the truth, and withdrawn from the order of God, in which their forefathers had had a long experience.
The Lord gave a caution to the Latter-day Saints, when he told them, in a revelation, given in 1831, to enter into the same order pertaining to our possessions in Jackson County. Prior to that, he gave us a promise, saying, that if we would be faithful we should become the richest of all people; but if we would not be faithful in keeping his commandments, but should become lifted up in the pride of our hearts, we should, perhaps, become like the Nephites of old. “Beware of pride,” says the Lord, in one of these revelations, “lest you become like the Nephites of old.”
I have no doubt that you Latter-day Saints are the best people on the face of the earth. God has gathered you out from among the nations; you were the only people, to whom the message of life and salvation was sent, who received the missionaries of the Most High when they came to your respective nations. You not only received the Gospel of repentance and baptism, but you hearkened to those missionaries and the counsels of God, and gathered to this land. Hence, you have done better than all other people, and you have been blessed above all other people. But there is danger, after having been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and having had the gifts of the Spirit made manifest more or less according to our faith, if we become lifted up in the pride of our hearts and think, because we have gathered an abundance of the wealth of this world, that we are a little better than our poor brother who labors eight or ten hours a day at the hardest kind of labor. Any person having the name of Latter-day Saint who feels that he is better than, and distinguishes himself from, the poor and supposes that he belongs to a little higher class than they, is in danger. “Beware of pride, lest you become like unto the Nephites of old.”
In order that this pride may be done away, there must necessarily be another order of things in regard to property.
Why does pride exist at all? Let us make a little inquiry about this. Do you know the reason? It all arises out of the love of riches. This is what generally constitutes pride. Now supposing you were all brought on a level in regard to property by a full consecration of everything that you have into a common stock fund, would there be among that number one who should thus consecrate all that he had, who would have anything to boast of above his neighbor? Not at all. He might have the use of property, one man might have perhaps a hundred times more than another, to use as a steward or agent for this general fund; but when he has used it, he has his living out of it—his food, his raiment, the necessaries and comforts of life, whether he handles hundreds of thousands or merely a small stewardship, for the man that takes charge of a great manufacturing establishment would require more funds than he who has a small farm, but the funds would not belong to him, he only has his food, raiment and the necessaries and comforts of life. But here is another branch of business, just as important, as far as it goes, as this large manufacturing establishment. What is it? To make mortar, to lay up our buildings, for without them we should soon suffer. The man who makes mortar, then, is just as honorable as the man who takes charge of a large establishment which requires five hundred thousand dollars to carry it on. But in both cases, the surplus of their labor, after taking therefrom the necessaries of life, goes to the common stock fund; and the man who has had charge of the large establishment has nothing that he can boast of over the man who makes mortar—one is just as rich as the other.
But I know there are many Latter-day Saints who have formed an erroneous idea or opinion in regard to this common stock fund. Some for want of reflection, may suppose that every man and every woman must have the same fashioned houses to live in, or there would not be an equality; they must have the same amount of furniture, or there would not be an equality. Some may suppose that all must have the same kind of bedding and everything precisely alike or there would be no equality. But this is not the way God manifests himself in all the works of his hands. Go to the field, the pasture or meadow, and learn wisdom. Search from one end of the pasture to the other and see if you can find two blades of grass that are exactly alike. It cannot be done, there is a little deviation, a little variety, and hence we see from this that God delights in variety. But because one blade of grass might be formed a little more pleasing to the eye than another, would the first have any right, if it could reason, to say, “I am above that other?” Not at all. It was made for a certain purpose, and so in regard to everything else. No two men upon the face of the earth have the same features. We have the general characteristics of the human form, and we do not look like the original of man according to Darwin's idea; we do not look like the monkey or baboon, from which Darwin says man originated. Men the world over have many features bearing a general resemblance, and their form is molded in the image of the Most High. But when you come to scan the features of man minutely, you will see some deviation in the countenances of all men throughout all creation. Now, are they not equal? Do those little distinguishing characteristics in the features make them unequal? Not in the least. Then, because it might fall to my lot to make mortar, and to another man's to take charge of a great store of merchandise, both of us being agents, that does not make the mercantile agent any better than the man who makes the mortar, and I should not expect to wear the same kind of apparel that the man did who was behind the counter. If I was making mortar I should not want on broadcloth, silk, or satin; I should want apparel adapted to the particular class of labor I was engaged in. Hence, there will be a distinction in these things.
Then again, do you suppose that when we come together it would be pleasing in the sight of God for every man and every woman to have on a Quaker bonnet or dress, or to pattern after the Shaking Quakers; that each of the ladies should have on a ribbon that should come under the bonnet, and be of just the same length? Not at all. God delights in variety; we see it throughout all the works of his hands, in every department of creation. Therefore men and women will dress according to their tastes, so far as they can get the means.
You draw your means from the common stock fund, and if you have stewardships set apart to you to manage, and you make little in the stewardships, the Bishops who take charge of these matters will not begin to inquire of you, “Well, brother, what kind of a hat have you worn? Was it straw, and was the straw just so fine or just so coarse, or was it a palm leaf hat you wore? I should like to know what kind of a hat band you have had? Was it a hat band having a bow knot, and, if so, was it any longer than your neighbors?” No such questions as these will be asked; but each man, each family in the stewardship, whatever they make, can exercise their own judgment in regard to many of these things, as they do now; and when you come together on Sunday, it is not expected that every man's and every woman's tastes would be to dress precisely like their neighbors, but have variety, and that out of the means of your stewardship.
But when you come to render up an account of that stewardship to the Bishop at the end of the year, there may be some prominent, leading questions asked, but not about these little matters. It will be asked if you have squandered your stewardship unnecessarily; have you been very extravagant in things unnecessary, and neglected other things of importance? If you have done these things, you will be counted an unwise steward, and you will be reproved; and perhaps, if you have gone too far, you may be removed out of your stewardship, and another person more worthy may step into it, and you be dropped because of doing wrong. But there never will be any Bishop, who has the Spirit of the living God upon him, who will inquire whether you have the same size stoves in your house, and the same kind of plates, knives, forks, and spoons as your neighbor; but you will have to give an account of those prominent items. That is the way I look at this common stock operation.
Then again, I do not know that the common stock operation which God commanded us to enter into in Jackson County, Mo., will be suitable in the year 1874. I commenced my discourse by showing that what was suitable one year was not always suitable the next. I do not know but here in Utah it may be necessary to vary materially from the principles that were commanded to be observed in Jackson County, Mo. I do not know but we may be required here to not only consecrate all that we have, but even ourselves as well as the property we possess, so that we may be directed by the Bishops and their counselors, or whoever may be appointed, in regard to all our daily avocations. I do not know how it will be. I have not heard. Down in Jackson County they were not thus directed. Every man got his stewardship, and he occupied it, and rendered an account of the same from time to time. But I do not know but it may be necessary here in Utah that we should be directed oftener than once a year, it may be that we shall be told weekly, and perhaps in some cases daily; and perhaps the Bishop or overseer may say today, “Here, brother, I would like you to do so and so today,” and tomorrow he comes along and says, “I would like you to stop that now; we have something else on hand; come with me, I will put in my hands as well as you, for, although you have selected me by your own voice to take charge, I am no better than you are, therefore I will take hold with you and do all I can in connection with you, and let us go at this business today.” Tomorrow there may be something else, and the next day something else, perhaps, according to the judgment of the Bishop and those who are appointed with him. In this way we could, perhaps, more effectually carry out the mind and will of God here in this desert country, than we could if we tried to imitate the pattern which was given to us in another country.
We cannot work here as we could in Jackson County, Mo. In that country we did not have to irrigate. We could settle on a piece of rising ground there, and the rains of heaven watered it. We could settle in the valley, and there were no ditches to be made. We could settle in any part of the county, or of the counties round about, and the rains of heaven would descend and water our land. And furthermore, there was timber all around, groves of timber, and we could go out before breakfast and get a load of wood, and in the course of a few days split rails enough to fence considerable of a patch of ground. Here we have to labor under other circumstances. Here we have not timber so that every man can fence his little farm or stewardship; we have not strength enough. If we happen to farm on some of these high grounds, it is very difficult to dig canals and water ditches to water our little stewardships. What shall we do, then? Join in together, be of one heart and one mind, and let there be a common stock fund, so far as property is concerned, and so far as our own individual labor is concerned. Consequently, we need not think, because we may not be organized precisely according to the law that was adapted to Jackson County, that this counseling is void of the Spirit of God. Do not let any person begin to think this. You need to cooperate together in your labors. This is necessary in fencing a great many of our farms. You need to cooperate in getting out your water from your water ditches to water your land, and you need to do it in a great many other respects.
For instance, these mountains, which rise so majestically on the east and on the west, are full of rich minerals, this is one of the richest countries in the world. Will not some of the Latter-day Saints eventually be required to act in the department of mining as well as in the department of agriculture? Yes. Can one individual do as well as half a dozen, or as well as a hundred, at mining? It may require the experience of a vast amount of labor in order to develop the resources of these mountains, and in that case, cooperation will be absolutely necessary.
“But,” says one, “the Gentiles have already done that.” But very little, I will assure you. Here and there they have opened a mine, but not one thousandth nor one ten-thousandth of that which exists and which will be developed hereafter. Now, in all these departments the Latter-day Saints must learn to be united, and I am glad to see, I rejoice exceedingly to hear, that the President has been moved upon, not only before he left Salt Lake City to go down South, but while he has been there, to alter the order of things that has existed for many years here in these mountains, among the Latter-day Saints. In what respect? To bring about a united order of things in regard to their property and labor, and the development of the resources of our farming land; in regard to raising flocks and herds, building, and developing the mineral resources of our mountains. In all these respects, the President has seen the necessity of beginning to bring about, gradually, as the way may open, a different order of things that will strike the axe at the root of this pride and distinction of classes. I am glad; I rejoice in it. Several of the Branches of the Church south have already entered into this order.
Inquires one, “What is it, what kind of an order is it? Tell us all about it.” I would tell you as much as I thought was wisdom, if I understood it myself; but I do not; I have had but very little information about it. Suffice to say that I know that the order of things that could have been carried out successfully in Jackson County cannot be carried out here, on the same principle, without a little variation. It cannot be done—circumstances require different laws, different counsel, an order of things suited to the condition of this desert country.
“Are all the people going directly into this thing at once.” “Yes, if they choose;” but you may depend upon it that in all cases whenever God has moved upon his servants to introduce anything for the good of the people, it takes time for the people to receive it—they do not receive it all in a moment. The Lord is long-suffering—he bears with the weaknesses and traditions of the people for a long time. When, by the mouths of his servants, he counsels the people to do this, that, or the other, and they are a little backward about it, he does not come out in judgment as he did to ancient Israel, and cut them off by thousands and tens of thousands. He does not do that, but he bears with them, waits year after year. How long he has borne with all of us! Forty-three years ago we were commanded to become one in regard to our property. Forty-three years we have been in disobedience. Forty-three years have rolled over our heads, and we are far from oneness still. God has not cut us off, as he did ancient Israel, but he has borne with us. Oh, how patient and long-suffering he has been with us, perhaps thinking, “Peradventure, they will, by and by, return, reform, repent, and obey my commandments that I gave them in the first rise of the Church. I will wait upon them, I will extend forth my hand to them all the day long, and see whether they will be obedient.” That is the way the Lord feels towards us. Should we not pattern after him? If this order of things should reach Salt Lake City, if these different wards should begin to be organized in some measure, and the people begin to be divided, some entering into the order and others refusing, should we not bear with those who do not? Yes, bear with them, just as the Lord has borne with us, and not begin to think that we are better than our neighbors who have not entered into the order, and flatter ourselves that we are above them, and revile and persecute them, and exercise our influence against them, saying, “Oh, they do not belong to the united order of God, they are outside of it, and consequently we have not much respect for them.” We must not do this, for perhaps, though we may think we are on a firm foundation, it may slip from under us, and we also may be brought into straightened circumstances. If we exercise patience, long-suffering, and forbearance with the people until they learn by experience what God is doing in our midst, many of these rich people may come into the order, who now say in their hearts, “We will wait and see whether this thing will prosper.” If they are honest in heart, they will finally come to the conclusion that the people in the united order are a happy people; they are not lifted up in pride one above another, and they will say, “I think I will go there, with all I have; I will become one of them;” and in a little while they will come along, while others, perhaps, will apostatize entirely. However, if they want to go, let them go, they are of no particular benefit if they feel to apostatize from anything which God has established for the benefit of the people. May God bless you. Amen.
At the close of Elder Pratt’s remarks, President Wells moved that the Conference adjourn until Thursday the 7th of May, to meet at 10 o’clock in the morning in the New Tabernacle; the motion was carried unanimously.
The choir sang the anthem—Oh! Be joyful in the Lord, and the Conference was dismissed with benediction by Elder W. Woodruff.
The Adjourned Forty-fourth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened this morning in the New Tabernacle, at 10 o’clock, on this the 7th day of May, 1874.
The congregation, for a first meeting, was very large. On the stand were--
Of the First Presidency.
Brigham Young, President; Geo. A. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, Lorenzo Snow, Brigham Young, Jr., Albert Carrington and John W. Young, Counsellors.
Of the Twelve Apostles.
Orson Pratt, Sen., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, C. C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Jr., Albert Carrington.
Patriarch--John Smith.
Of the first Seven Presidents of Seventies.
Joseph Young, Albert P. Rockwood, Levi P. Hancock and Horace S. Eldredge.
Of the Presidency of the High Priests’ Quorum.
Elias Smith, Edward Snelgrove and Elias Morris.
Of the Presidency of this Stake of Zion.
John W. Young, George B. Wallace, and John T. Caine.
Of the Presidency of the Bishopric.
Edward Hunter, Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little.
There were also numbers of leading Elders from various parts of this Territory, and from Idaho.
Conference was called to order by President Brigham Young.
The choir sang: My God, the spring of all my joys, The life of my delights.
Opening prayer by Elder John Taylor.
Praise ye the Lord, ‘tis good to raise Your hearts and voices in his praise: was sung by the choir.
The congregation, for a first meeting, was very large. On the stand were--
Of the First Presidency.
Brigham Young, President; Geo. A. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, Lorenzo Snow, Brigham Young, Jr., Albert Carrington and John W. Young, Counsellors.
Of the Twelve Apostles.
Orson Pratt, Sen., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, C. C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Jr., Albert Carrington.
Patriarch--John Smith.
Of the first Seven Presidents of Seventies.
Joseph Young, Albert P. Rockwood, Levi P. Hancock and Horace S. Eldredge.
Of the Presidency of the High Priests’ Quorum.
Elias Smith, Edward Snelgrove and Elias Morris.
Of the Presidency of this Stake of Zion.
John W. Young, George B. Wallace, and John T. Caine.
Of the Presidency of the Bishopric.
Edward Hunter, Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little.
There were also numbers of leading Elders from various parts of this Territory, and from Idaho.
Conference was called to order by President Brigham Young.
The choir sang: My God, the spring of all my joys, The life of my delights.
Opening prayer by Elder John Taylor.
Praise ye the Lord, ‘tis good to raise Your hearts and voices in his praise: was sung by the choir.
President Brigham Young
requested that the brethren who would speak during Conference should express their views regarding the system of co-operation called the United Order. In a short discourse he described the benefits that would accrue to a community that would combine their interests. He spoke of objections that were raised against the Latter-day Saints joining together, but said notwithstanding the obstacles that some might place in their way to prevent the establishment and progress of a United Order of Brotherhood, the Saints intended to go to work and spread, foster and increase peace, happiness and prosperity among themselves, and extend those elements as far as their influence could be felt, until the whole earth was subdued, and harmony, peace and plenty prevailed everywhere.
President Young then gave some valuable instructions on the principles of true domestic and political economy, and he concluded by expressing a desire for the Elders who should speak to give their views on both sides of the question of co-operation.
requested that the brethren who would speak during Conference should express their views regarding the system of co-operation called the United Order. In a short discourse he described the benefits that would accrue to a community that would combine their interests. He spoke of objections that were raised against the Latter-day Saints joining together, but said notwithstanding the obstacles that some might place in their way to prevent the establishment and progress of a United Order of Brotherhood, the Saints intended to go to work and spread, foster and increase peace, happiness and prosperity among themselves, and extend those elements as far as their influence could be felt, until the whole earth was subdued, and harmony, peace and plenty prevailed everywhere.
President Young then gave some valuable instructions on the principles of true domestic and political economy, and he concluded by expressing a desire for the Elders who should speak to give their views on both sides of the question of co-operation.
The United Order—A System of Oneness—Economy and Wisdom in Becoming Self-Sustaining
Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered at the Opening of the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
I do not expect to be able to speak much during this Conference, but I make a request of my brethren who may speak, to give us their instructions and views for or against this general cooperative system, which we, with propriety, may call the United Order. If any choose to give it any other name that will be applicable to the nature of it, they can do so. A system of oneness among any people, whether former-day Saints, middle-day Saints, eleventh hour of the day Saints, last hour of the day Saints, or no Saints at all, is beneficial; but I wish the brethren to give us their views for and against union in a family, whether that family consists of the parents and ten children, or the parents, ten children, fifty grandchildren, or a hundred and fifty great-grandchildren, and so on until you get to a nation. I ask of my brethren who may address the congregations, to give us their views for and against union, peace, good order; laboring for the benefit of ourselves, and in connection with each other for the welfare and happiness of all, whether in the capacity of a family, neighborhood, city, state, nation, or the world.
We see the inhabitants of the earth, as individuals and nations, struggling, striving, laboring and toiling, everyone for himself and nobody else; all are anxious to bless their own dear selves. If you will permit me, I will quote an anecdote in illustration of this trait of character among the human family. A man, in asking a blessing upon his food, prayed, “O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, we four, and no more. Amen.” If we have generosity of feeling sufficient to pray for blessings upon a fifth person, or upon a whole family, neighborhood or community, all the better.
We are not entering into any new system, order or doctrine. There are numbers of organizations of a similar character, as far as they go, in our own country and in other countries. Our object is to labor for the benefit of the whole, to retrench in our expenditures; to be prudent and economical; to study well the necessities of the community, and to pass by its many useless wants; to study to secure life, health, wealth, and union, which is power and influence to any community; and I ask my brethren, while addressing the people during this Conference, to take up these items of everyday life. It seems to be objectionable to some, for the Latter-day Saints to enter into a self-sustaining system, and the probability of our doing so causes a great deal of talk. If we were infidels, any other sect of Christians, or neither Christians nor infidels, but mere worldlings, seeking only to amass the wealth of this world, nothing would be thought or said against it. But for the Latter-day Saints to make a move to the right or to the left, to the front or to the rear, a suspicion arises directly in the minds of the people. I will say to the inhabitants of the whole earth, that the Latter-day Saints are going to work to sustain themselves, to do good to themselves, to their neighbors and to the whole human family; they are going to labor to establish peace and good order on the earth, just as far and as fast as they can, and to prepare them for a happier world than this.
Talk about it, cry about it, deride it, point the finger of scorn at it, we care not, we are the servants and handmaids of the Lord, and our business is to build up his kingdom upon the earth, and let all the world say what they please, it matters not to us. It is for us to do our duty.
Now let me present one little matter. Here are brethren from all parts of the Territory, to represent the different branches of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We find our brethren in various parts of the Territory are in possession of a little land; take a man, for instance, who has got a five acre lot. He wants his team, he must have his horses, harness, wagon, plow, harrow and farming utensils to cultivate that five acres, just as though he was farming a hundred acres. And when harvest comes; he is not accommodated by his neighbors with a reaping machine, and he says—“Another year, I will buy one,” and this to harvest five acres of grain. Take the article of wagons among this people, we have five where we should not have more than two; and the money that is spent needlessly by our people for wagons would make a small community rich. Again, take mowing and reaping machines, and we have probably twice or three times as many in this Territory as the people need. They stand in the sun and they dry up and spoil, and this entails a heavy waste of property. We may take also the article of harness for horses. If this community would be united, and work cattle instead of horses, they might save themselves from two to five hundred thousand dollars yearly. Is this economy or wisdom? A few years ago we raised our own sweet; but when the railroad came it brought sugar to us very cheap, and where is our sorghum now? There is hardly any raised in the whole Territory. The people say—“The sugar is so cheap.” Suppose sugar was only one penny a pound, and you had not that penny and could not get it, what good would it do you? None at all. If cotton cloth can be bought for fifteen, ten, or six cents a yard, what does it profit a people if they have not the money to buy it? It does them no good. When they have the ground to raise the cotton, and the machinery to work this cotton up and make the fabrics they need, they can do it, money or no money. And so we go on from one thing to another, and we would be glad if our brethren, in their remarks, will give us their views and instructions on these points, and the bearing they have had upon the people in the past, and how they will affect them in connection with the United Order which we are now seeking to introduce.
If any man, merchant, businessman, or anybody else has anything to bring forward to show, as they think, that the United Order will militate against the interests of the community, we invite them to speak it freely, and give us both sides of the question. We are for the best, we are for the right, for that which will accomplish the greatest good to the greatest number. I shall now give place for others to speak.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered at the Opening of the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
I do not expect to be able to speak much during this Conference, but I make a request of my brethren who may speak, to give us their instructions and views for or against this general cooperative system, which we, with propriety, may call the United Order. If any choose to give it any other name that will be applicable to the nature of it, they can do so. A system of oneness among any people, whether former-day Saints, middle-day Saints, eleventh hour of the day Saints, last hour of the day Saints, or no Saints at all, is beneficial; but I wish the brethren to give us their views for and against union in a family, whether that family consists of the parents and ten children, or the parents, ten children, fifty grandchildren, or a hundred and fifty great-grandchildren, and so on until you get to a nation. I ask of my brethren who may address the congregations, to give us their views for and against union, peace, good order; laboring for the benefit of ourselves, and in connection with each other for the welfare and happiness of all, whether in the capacity of a family, neighborhood, city, state, nation, or the world.
We see the inhabitants of the earth, as individuals and nations, struggling, striving, laboring and toiling, everyone for himself and nobody else; all are anxious to bless their own dear selves. If you will permit me, I will quote an anecdote in illustration of this trait of character among the human family. A man, in asking a blessing upon his food, prayed, “O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, we four, and no more. Amen.” If we have generosity of feeling sufficient to pray for blessings upon a fifth person, or upon a whole family, neighborhood or community, all the better.
We are not entering into any new system, order or doctrine. There are numbers of organizations of a similar character, as far as they go, in our own country and in other countries. Our object is to labor for the benefit of the whole, to retrench in our expenditures; to be prudent and economical; to study well the necessities of the community, and to pass by its many useless wants; to study to secure life, health, wealth, and union, which is power and influence to any community; and I ask my brethren, while addressing the people during this Conference, to take up these items of everyday life. It seems to be objectionable to some, for the Latter-day Saints to enter into a self-sustaining system, and the probability of our doing so causes a great deal of talk. If we were infidels, any other sect of Christians, or neither Christians nor infidels, but mere worldlings, seeking only to amass the wealth of this world, nothing would be thought or said against it. But for the Latter-day Saints to make a move to the right or to the left, to the front or to the rear, a suspicion arises directly in the minds of the people. I will say to the inhabitants of the whole earth, that the Latter-day Saints are going to work to sustain themselves, to do good to themselves, to their neighbors and to the whole human family; they are going to labor to establish peace and good order on the earth, just as far and as fast as they can, and to prepare them for a happier world than this.
Talk about it, cry about it, deride it, point the finger of scorn at it, we care not, we are the servants and handmaids of the Lord, and our business is to build up his kingdom upon the earth, and let all the world say what they please, it matters not to us. It is for us to do our duty.
Now let me present one little matter. Here are brethren from all parts of the Territory, to represent the different branches of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We find our brethren in various parts of the Territory are in possession of a little land; take a man, for instance, who has got a five acre lot. He wants his team, he must have his horses, harness, wagon, plow, harrow and farming utensils to cultivate that five acres, just as though he was farming a hundred acres. And when harvest comes; he is not accommodated by his neighbors with a reaping machine, and he says—“Another year, I will buy one,” and this to harvest five acres of grain. Take the article of wagons among this people, we have five where we should not have more than two; and the money that is spent needlessly by our people for wagons would make a small community rich. Again, take mowing and reaping machines, and we have probably twice or three times as many in this Territory as the people need. They stand in the sun and they dry up and spoil, and this entails a heavy waste of property. We may take also the article of harness for horses. If this community would be united, and work cattle instead of horses, they might save themselves from two to five hundred thousand dollars yearly. Is this economy or wisdom? A few years ago we raised our own sweet; but when the railroad came it brought sugar to us very cheap, and where is our sorghum now? There is hardly any raised in the whole Territory. The people say—“The sugar is so cheap.” Suppose sugar was only one penny a pound, and you had not that penny and could not get it, what good would it do you? None at all. If cotton cloth can be bought for fifteen, ten, or six cents a yard, what does it profit a people if they have not the money to buy it? It does them no good. When they have the ground to raise the cotton, and the machinery to work this cotton up and make the fabrics they need, they can do it, money or no money. And so we go on from one thing to another, and we would be glad if our brethren, in their remarks, will give us their views and instructions on these points, and the bearing they have had upon the people in the past, and how they will affect them in connection with the United Order which we are now seeking to introduce.
If any man, merchant, businessman, or anybody else has anything to bring forward to show, as they think, that the United Order will militate against the interests of the community, we invite them to speak it freely, and give us both sides of the question. We are for the best, we are for the right, for that which will accomplish the greatest good to the greatest number. I shall now give place for others to speak.
President Geo. A. Smith
prefaced an address to the congregation by reading that portion of Malachi in which the Lord says that, in the latter days, he would send Elijah the prophet, to turn the “hearts of the children to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children.” He then related some circumstances connected with the early history of the Church. The Lord endeavored to establish the order of Zion then, but while some considered it a privilege to consecrate their property to the Lord, others were covetous, and thought about looking after their own interests in preference to those of the work of God. Because of the prevalence of the latter feeling, it was probably that the Lord permitted the enemies of the Saints to drive them. Many had looked forward with grateful anticipations to the time when they would go back to Jackson Co., Missouri, and a desire to live to see that time had been general. Forty years had passed since then, and several times since attempts had been made to establish a United Order, but the Saints had not, it appeared, been prepared for the inauguration of its laws. Since the earliest settlement of this Territory, the leading men of the church had endeavored to impress the minds of the people with the necessity of being, as much as possible, self-supporting, and although there had been some progress in that direction, it had been far from what it ought to have been, and yet we anticipated that Babylon would fall, and our outside sources of supply be therefore ultimately cut off.
When we, as a community, were sustained by home productions, we were not subject to the inconveniences produced by the financial panics and trade fluctuations continually occurring in the world.
The design of the United Order was to use and direct all the skill, ingenuity and energy in the community for the benefit of the whole. Latter-day Saints surely could not enjoy so much of the favor of the Almighty when scheming and planning each to take advantage of his neighbor, as they could, did each esteem the other as himself or herself. Again, the Saints could not prepare for the coming of the Savior but by becoming one.
The speaker exhorted all to seek for the testimony of the same Spirit that communicated to their minds that God had spoken from the heavens, which would show them that the present movement was but another progressive step of the grand work that the Lord purposed to accomplish. He concluded a most interesting discourse by bearing testimony to the truth of the work of the Lord.
prefaced an address to the congregation by reading that portion of Malachi in which the Lord says that, in the latter days, he would send Elijah the prophet, to turn the “hearts of the children to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children.” He then related some circumstances connected with the early history of the Church. The Lord endeavored to establish the order of Zion then, but while some considered it a privilege to consecrate their property to the Lord, others were covetous, and thought about looking after their own interests in preference to those of the work of God. Because of the prevalence of the latter feeling, it was probably that the Lord permitted the enemies of the Saints to drive them. Many had looked forward with grateful anticipations to the time when they would go back to Jackson Co., Missouri, and a desire to live to see that time had been general. Forty years had passed since then, and several times since attempts had been made to establish a United Order, but the Saints had not, it appeared, been prepared for the inauguration of its laws. Since the earliest settlement of this Territory, the leading men of the church had endeavored to impress the minds of the people with the necessity of being, as much as possible, self-supporting, and although there had been some progress in that direction, it had been far from what it ought to have been, and yet we anticipated that Babylon would fall, and our outside sources of supply be therefore ultimately cut off.
When we, as a community, were sustained by home productions, we were not subject to the inconveniences produced by the financial panics and trade fluctuations continually occurring in the world.
The design of the United Order was to use and direct all the skill, ingenuity and energy in the community for the benefit of the whole. Latter-day Saints surely could not enjoy so much of the favor of the Almighty when scheming and planning each to take advantage of his neighbor, as they could, did each esteem the other as himself or herself. Again, the Saints could not prepare for the coming of the Savior but by becoming one.
The speaker exhorted all to seek for the testimony of the same Spirit that communicated to their minds that God had spoken from the heavens, which would show them that the present movement was but another progressive step of the grand work that the Lord purposed to accomplish. He concluded a most interesting discourse by bearing testimony to the truth of the work of the Lord.
Zion to Be Redeemed Through the Law of Consecration—Persecutions of the Saints—A Oneness Among the Saints Necessary—The Hearts of The Fathers to Be Turned to the Children, and the Children to the Fathers
Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” This passage will be found in the 5th and 6th verses of the 4th chapter of the Prophet Malachi.
The Latter-day Saints were driven from their homes in Jackson County, Missouri, about forty-one years ago. A portion of the mob commenced the outbreak in June or July, and among their first deeds of violence was the destruction of the printing office, plundering the storehouse, and the tarring and feathering of Edward Partridge, the Bishop. This was followed by whipping and killing the people and burning their houses, and finally culminated, on the 13th of October, in driving some fifteen hundred persons from their homes, on the public lands which they had purchased and received titles for from the United States. The people thus driven went into different parts of the State, the great body of them, however, taking shelter in the County of Clay.
The settlements in Jackson County were commenced on the principle of the law of consecration. If you read the revelations that were given, and the manner in which they were acted upon, you will find that the brethren brought, before the Bishop and his counselors, their property and consecrated it, and with the money and means thus consecrated lands were purchased, and inheritances and stewardships distributed among the people, all of whom regarded their property as the property of the Lord. There were, however, at that period, professed Latter-day Saints, who did not see proper to abide by this law of consecration; they thought it was their privilege to look after “number one,” and some of them, believing that Zion was to become a very great city, and that being the Center Stake of it, they purchased tracts of land in the vicinity with the intention of keeping them until Zion became the beauty and joy of the whole earth, when they thought they could sell their lands and make themselves very rich. It was probably owing to this, in part, that the Lord suffered the enemies of Zion to rise against her.
The members of the Church at that period were very industrious, frugal, and law-abiding, and there was no possibility of framing any charges or claims against them by legal means, and the published manifesto, upon which the mob was collected, boldly asserted that the civil law did not afford a guarantee against this people, consequently, they formed themselves into a combination, a lawless mob, pledging to each other “their lives, their property and their sacred honors” to drive the “Mormons” from their midst. From that hour the heart of every Latter-day Saint has been occasionally warmed with the feeling—may I be permitted to live until the day when the Saints shall again go to Jackson County, when they shall build the Temple, the ground for which was dedicated, and when the Order of Zion, as it was then revealed, shall be carried out! And it has been generally understood among us that the redemption of Zion would not occur upon any other principle than upon that of the law of consecration.
Forty years and more have passed away since these events took place. We have been driven five times from our homes; five times we have been robbed of our inheritances. Our leaders and presiding officers have been killed, and not in a single instance, in any State or Territory where we have lived, has the law been magnified in the protection of the Latter-day Saints, until we were driven into these mountains. In 1834, Daniel Dunklin, the Governor of Missouri, said the laws were ample, and the Constitution was ample, but the prejudices of the people were so great that he and the other authorities of the State were powerless to execute the law for the protection of the Mormons. We have had one protector—our Father in heaven, to depend upon; but governors, judges, rulers, officers of any kind, high or low, have utterly failed to extend protection to the Latter-day Saints. God alone has been our protector, and we acknowledge his hand in every deliverance we have hitherto experienced.
Several times the Church has made advances to organize the Order of Enoch as it was revealed in the Book of Covenants in part, and in the ancient history of the Zion of Enoch; these advances, however, the Saints did not seem prepared to receive. We have been gathered from many nations, and we have brought many notions and traditions with us, and it has seemed that with these notions and traditions we could not dispense. In 1838, an attempt was made in Caldwell County, Mo., the Latter-day Saints owning all the lands in the county, or all that were considered of any value. They organized Big Field United Firms, by which they intended to consolidate their property and to regard it as the property of the Lord, and themselves only as stewards; but they had not advanced so far in this matter as to perfect their system before they were broken up and driven from the State. I understand that three hundred and eighteen thousand dollars in money was paid by the Saints to the United States for lands in the State of Missouri, not one acre of which anyone of us has been permitted to enjoy or to live upon since the year 1838, or the Spring of 1839; though at the time of the expulsion, the Commanding General, John W. Clarke, informed the people that if they would renounce their religious faith, they could remain on their lands. He said that they were skillful mechanics, industrious and orderly, and had made more improvements in three years than the other inhabitants had in fifteen, and if they would renounce their faith they could remain. But they must hold no more meetings, prayer meetings, prayer circles or councils, and they must have no more Bishops or Presidents; and in view of their refusal to comply with these conditions, the edict of banishment, issued by the Governor of the State, was executed by this general with an army at his heels, and the Latter-day Saints were driven from their happy homes, and thousands of them scattered to the four winds of heaven.
Since our arrival in these valleys, sermons have been preached from year to year, to illustrate to us the principles of oneness. We find that we are one, generally, in faith. We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; we believe in the first principles of the Gospel—the doctrines of repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the resurrection of the dead; we readily receive, by the power of the Holy Spirit, manifested to us through the Prophets, the doctrine of baptism for the dead, the holy anointing and the law of celestial marriage. This principle came in opposition to all our prejudices, yet when God revealed it, his Spirit bore testimony of its truth, and the Latter-day Saints received it almost en masse. In order to make a step in the right direction, and to prepare the people to return to Jackson County, the principles of cooperation were taught and their practice entered into; and for the purpose of instructing and encouraging the minds of the people upon the benefits of united action, from the earliest settlement of this Territory to the present time, the presiding Elders of the Church have, every Conference, endeavored to impress upon their minds the necessity of making themselves self-supporting. We have looked forward to the day when Babylon would fall, when we could not draw our supplies from her midst, and when our own ingenuity, talent, and skill must supply our wants. The effect of all this instruction is, that we have made some progress in many directions, but not so much as could have been desired.
The cultivation of cotton was introduced in the South. Sheep breeding has been extensively adopted, numerous factories have been erected to manufacture both the wool and the cotton produced. Several extensive tanneries have also been established for the manufacture of hides into leather, and various other kinds of business have been introduced with a view to making ourselves self-supporting.
Within a few years the railroad has been constructed through our Territory, and the expense of freighting has been greatly reduced. Mines which, before the railroad was built, were perfectly worthless, have been developed and made to pay, and the minds of many of the people seem to have been impressed with the idea that we may expect some regular, general business to grow out of the production of the mines, and a great many have been led to neglect home manufactures, and to depend upon purchasing from abroad. Some settlements have, however, exerted themselves considerably to produce clothing, and many articles within themselves. These circumstances are all clear before us. You go through Utah County, today, and say to a farmer, “Have you got any sorghum to sell?” “No, haven't raised any for two or three years; sugar got so cheap, we could not sell it.” “I suppose you have plenty of sugar?” “No, we are out of sugar, we haven't any money to buy it with.” This is the position which our course of life has led us to, and which we already begin to feel.
There is another principle connected with this matter which we should consider, and that is, when we, as a community, in the valleys of the mountains, provide for our own wants, we are not subject to the fluctuations and difficulties that result from a money panic, or an interruption in the currency. When we came to this Conference a great many of us came with the determination to take such measures as should place us as a people on an independent footing, and hence we propose, through our brethren, to go to work and organize a united order. There is at present a deficiency in our organization so far as our business relations are concerned. Of course, in every settlement, there are many industrious men, then there's some who are schemers; and as each man looks out for himself, that good principle which the Savior taught so strongly, that a man should love the Lord his God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself, is in a great measure forgotten, and a few gather up the property, while many of the laboring men, who do most of the work, come out at the end of the year behind, without a full supply of the necessaries of life. To avoid this, a United Order would organize a community so that all the ingenuity, talent, skill, and energy it possessed would inure to the good of the whole. This is the object and design in the establishment of these organizations. It is perfectly certain that there is, in every community, a sufficient amount of skill and energy and labor to supply its wants, and put all its members in possession of every necessary and comfort of life, if all this skill and energy be rightly directed. We propose to take measures to direct aright the labor that we have in our possession, and lay a foundation for comfort, happiness, plenty and the blessings of life within ourselves.
We, further, do not believe that Latter-day Saints, in the service of the Most High, can enjoy that high degree of respect in the presence of the Almighty to which they are entitled, when they are biting, devouring, shaving, skinning, and maneuvering, and outmaneuvering and getting the advantage of each other in little petty deals. We want to see these things cease entirely, for we know that we can never be prepared for the coming of the Savior only by uniting and becoming one, in temporal as well as in spiritual things, and being prepared to enjoy the blessings of exaltation.
The principles of life, which we now present for the consideration of the Latter-day Saints were carried out in times past, as we read in the Book of Mormon, among the Nephites and Lamanites, who each enjoyed over a hundred years of unity, peace, happiness and plenty, as the result of adopting this system of unity; and if we will unite in one, acting in good faith, every man esteeming his brother as himself, regarding not what he possesses as his own, but the Lord's, all carrying out these principles, the result is certain—it is the enjoyment of the Spirit of the Lord, it is the light of eternity, it is the abundance of the things of this earth; it is an opportunity to provide education for our children, amusement and interest for ourselves, a knowledge of the things of the kingdom of God, and all sciences which are embraced therein, and an advance in the work of the last days, preparatory to the redemption of the Center Stake of Zion.
Brethren and sisters, think of these things, and as the spirit of the Almighty was in your hearts when you received the laying on of hands and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, bearing testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true, seek with all your hearts, and know, by the same spirit, that the establishment of the United Order, is another step towards the triumph of that great and glorious work for which we are continually laboring, namely the dawning of the Millennium and the commencement of the reign of Christ on the earth.
This is the work of the Almighty. These principles are from God; they are for our salvation, and unless we remember and abide in them our progress will be slow. If we are slow to learn and progress, but try to carry out the purposes of God, He will not cast us off. He has been very patient with us these forty years, and he may continue to be so. But understand that the hearts of the fathers must be turned to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. A unity must exist, the Latter-day Saints must love one another, they must cease to worship this world's goods, they must lay a foundation to build up Zion and to be one, in order that they may be prepared for the great day that shall burn as an oven.
I bear my testimony to you of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the Book of Mormon, of the ministry of Joseph Smith and of his servants, the Elders, that were called of the Lord by him, Brigham Young and the Apostles and Elders who have borne these testimonies to the nations of the earth, and I say, brethren, give diligent heed to these things, lest by any means we should let them slip and come short of entering into rest.
May the blessings of Israel's God be upon you forever. Amen.
Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” This passage will be found in the 5th and 6th verses of the 4th chapter of the Prophet Malachi.
The Latter-day Saints were driven from their homes in Jackson County, Missouri, about forty-one years ago. A portion of the mob commenced the outbreak in June or July, and among their first deeds of violence was the destruction of the printing office, plundering the storehouse, and the tarring and feathering of Edward Partridge, the Bishop. This was followed by whipping and killing the people and burning their houses, and finally culminated, on the 13th of October, in driving some fifteen hundred persons from their homes, on the public lands which they had purchased and received titles for from the United States. The people thus driven went into different parts of the State, the great body of them, however, taking shelter in the County of Clay.
The settlements in Jackson County were commenced on the principle of the law of consecration. If you read the revelations that were given, and the manner in which they were acted upon, you will find that the brethren brought, before the Bishop and his counselors, their property and consecrated it, and with the money and means thus consecrated lands were purchased, and inheritances and stewardships distributed among the people, all of whom regarded their property as the property of the Lord. There were, however, at that period, professed Latter-day Saints, who did not see proper to abide by this law of consecration; they thought it was their privilege to look after “number one,” and some of them, believing that Zion was to become a very great city, and that being the Center Stake of it, they purchased tracts of land in the vicinity with the intention of keeping them until Zion became the beauty and joy of the whole earth, when they thought they could sell their lands and make themselves very rich. It was probably owing to this, in part, that the Lord suffered the enemies of Zion to rise against her.
The members of the Church at that period were very industrious, frugal, and law-abiding, and there was no possibility of framing any charges or claims against them by legal means, and the published manifesto, upon which the mob was collected, boldly asserted that the civil law did not afford a guarantee against this people, consequently, they formed themselves into a combination, a lawless mob, pledging to each other “their lives, their property and their sacred honors” to drive the “Mormons” from their midst. From that hour the heart of every Latter-day Saint has been occasionally warmed with the feeling—may I be permitted to live until the day when the Saints shall again go to Jackson County, when they shall build the Temple, the ground for which was dedicated, and when the Order of Zion, as it was then revealed, shall be carried out! And it has been generally understood among us that the redemption of Zion would not occur upon any other principle than upon that of the law of consecration.
Forty years and more have passed away since these events took place. We have been driven five times from our homes; five times we have been robbed of our inheritances. Our leaders and presiding officers have been killed, and not in a single instance, in any State or Territory where we have lived, has the law been magnified in the protection of the Latter-day Saints, until we were driven into these mountains. In 1834, Daniel Dunklin, the Governor of Missouri, said the laws were ample, and the Constitution was ample, but the prejudices of the people were so great that he and the other authorities of the State were powerless to execute the law for the protection of the Mormons. We have had one protector—our Father in heaven, to depend upon; but governors, judges, rulers, officers of any kind, high or low, have utterly failed to extend protection to the Latter-day Saints. God alone has been our protector, and we acknowledge his hand in every deliverance we have hitherto experienced.
Several times the Church has made advances to organize the Order of Enoch as it was revealed in the Book of Covenants in part, and in the ancient history of the Zion of Enoch; these advances, however, the Saints did not seem prepared to receive. We have been gathered from many nations, and we have brought many notions and traditions with us, and it has seemed that with these notions and traditions we could not dispense. In 1838, an attempt was made in Caldwell County, Mo., the Latter-day Saints owning all the lands in the county, or all that were considered of any value. They organized Big Field United Firms, by which they intended to consolidate their property and to regard it as the property of the Lord, and themselves only as stewards; but they had not advanced so far in this matter as to perfect their system before they were broken up and driven from the State. I understand that three hundred and eighteen thousand dollars in money was paid by the Saints to the United States for lands in the State of Missouri, not one acre of which anyone of us has been permitted to enjoy or to live upon since the year 1838, or the Spring of 1839; though at the time of the expulsion, the Commanding General, John W. Clarke, informed the people that if they would renounce their religious faith, they could remain on their lands. He said that they were skillful mechanics, industrious and orderly, and had made more improvements in three years than the other inhabitants had in fifteen, and if they would renounce their faith they could remain. But they must hold no more meetings, prayer meetings, prayer circles or councils, and they must have no more Bishops or Presidents; and in view of their refusal to comply with these conditions, the edict of banishment, issued by the Governor of the State, was executed by this general with an army at his heels, and the Latter-day Saints were driven from their happy homes, and thousands of them scattered to the four winds of heaven.
Since our arrival in these valleys, sermons have been preached from year to year, to illustrate to us the principles of oneness. We find that we are one, generally, in faith. We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; we believe in the first principles of the Gospel—the doctrines of repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the resurrection of the dead; we readily receive, by the power of the Holy Spirit, manifested to us through the Prophets, the doctrine of baptism for the dead, the holy anointing and the law of celestial marriage. This principle came in opposition to all our prejudices, yet when God revealed it, his Spirit bore testimony of its truth, and the Latter-day Saints received it almost en masse. In order to make a step in the right direction, and to prepare the people to return to Jackson County, the principles of cooperation were taught and their practice entered into; and for the purpose of instructing and encouraging the minds of the people upon the benefits of united action, from the earliest settlement of this Territory to the present time, the presiding Elders of the Church have, every Conference, endeavored to impress upon their minds the necessity of making themselves self-supporting. We have looked forward to the day when Babylon would fall, when we could not draw our supplies from her midst, and when our own ingenuity, talent, and skill must supply our wants. The effect of all this instruction is, that we have made some progress in many directions, but not so much as could have been desired.
The cultivation of cotton was introduced in the South. Sheep breeding has been extensively adopted, numerous factories have been erected to manufacture both the wool and the cotton produced. Several extensive tanneries have also been established for the manufacture of hides into leather, and various other kinds of business have been introduced with a view to making ourselves self-supporting.
Within a few years the railroad has been constructed through our Territory, and the expense of freighting has been greatly reduced. Mines which, before the railroad was built, were perfectly worthless, have been developed and made to pay, and the minds of many of the people seem to have been impressed with the idea that we may expect some regular, general business to grow out of the production of the mines, and a great many have been led to neglect home manufactures, and to depend upon purchasing from abroad. Some settlements have, however, exerted themselves considerably to produce clothing, and many articles within themselves. These circumstances are all clear before us. You go through Utah County, today, and say to a farmer, “Have you got any sorghum to sell?” “No, haven't raised any for two or three years; sugar got so cheap, we could not sell it.” “I suppose you have plenty of sugar?” “No, we are out of sugar, we haven't any money to buy it with.” This is the position which our course of life has led us to, and which we already begin to feel.
There is another principle connected with this matter which we should consider, and that is, when we, as a community, in the valleys of the mountains, provide for our own wants, we are not subject to the fluctuations and difficulties that result from a money panic, or an interruption in the currency. When we came to this Conference a great many of us came with the determination to take such measures as should place us as a people on an independent footing, and hence we propose, through our brethren, to go to work and organize a united order. There is at present a deficiency in our organization so far as our business relations are concerned. Of course, in every settlement, there are many industrious men, then there's some who are schemers; and as each man looks out for himself, that good principle which the Savior taught so strongly, that a man should love the Lord his God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself, is in a great measure forgotten, and a few gather up the property, while many of the laboring men, who do most of the work, come out at the end of the year behind, without a full supply of the necessaries of life. To avoid this, a United Order would organize a community so that all the ingenuity, talent, skill, and energy it possessed would inure to the good of the whole. This is the object and design in the establishment of these organizations. It is perfectly certain that there is, in every community, a sufficient amount of skill and energy and labor to supply its wants, and put all its members in possession of every necessary and comfort of life, if all this skill and energy be rightly directed. We propose to take measures to direct aright the labor that we have in our possession, and lay a foundation for comfort, happiness, plenty and the blessings of life within ourselves.
We, further, do not believe that Latter-day Saints, in the service of the Most High, can enjoy that high degree of respect in the presence of the Almighty to which they are entitled, when they are biting, devouring, shaving, skinning, and maneuvering, and outmaneuvering and getting the advantage of each other in little petty deals. We want to see these things cease entirely, for we know that we can never be prepared for the coming of the Savior only by uniting and becoming one, in temporal as well as in spiritual things, and being prepared to enjoy the blessings of exaltation.
The principles of life, which we now present for the consideration of the Latter-day Saints were carried out in times past, as we read in the Book of Mormon, among the Nephites and Lamanites, who each enjoyed over a hundred years of unity, peace, happiness and plenty, as the result of adopting this system of unity; and if we will unite in one, acting in good faith, every man esteeming his brother as himself, regarding not what he possesses as his own, but the Lord's, all carrying out these principles, the result is certain—it is the enjoyment of the Spirit of the Lord, it is the light of eternity, it is the abundance of the things of this earth; it is an opportunity to provide education for our children, amusement and interest for ourselves, a knowledge of the things of the kingdom of God, and all sciences which are embraced therein, and an advance in the work of the last days, preparatory to the redemption of the Center Stake of Zion.
Brethren and sisters, think of these things, and as the spirit of the Almighty was in your hearts when you received the laying on of hands and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, bearing testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true, seek with all your hearts, and know, by the same spirit, that the establishment of the United Order, is another step towards the triumph of that great and glorious work for which we are continually laboring, namely the dawning of the Millennium and the commencement of the reign of Christ on the earth.
This is the work of the Almighty. These principles are from God; they are for our salvation, and unless we remember and abide in them our progress will be slow. If we are slow to learn and progress, but try to carry out the purposes of God, He will not cast us off. He has been very patient with us these forty years, and he may continue to be so. But understand that the hearts of the fathers must be turned to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. A unity must exist, the Latter-day Saints must love one another, they must cease to worship this world's goods, they must lay a foundation to build up Zion and to be one, in order that they may be prepared for the great day that shall burn as an oven.
I bear my testimony to you of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the Book of Mormon, of the ministry of Joseph Smith and of his servants, the Elders, that were called of the Lord by him, Brigham Young and the Apostles and Elders who have borne these testimonies to the nations of the earth, and I say, brethren, give diligent heed to these things, lest by any means we should let them slip and come short of entering into rest.
May the blessings of Israel's God be upon you forever. Amen.
Elder John Taylor
addressed the Conference on the same subject treated upon by President Smith. The principles embodied in the ideas now being advanced to the Latter-day Saints, were not particularly new, yet that they should be objected to by those who are opposed to the work of God was not to be wondered at. The Latter-day Saints could not conform, however, to the ideas of other people and give up their religion. They had been asked to do this in Missouri, but they did not comply, and they were driven from their homes. The Saints united together then and helped each other to leave that part of the country. The same had been done in other places, until the people came here, that they might enjoy that freedom of conscience which was denied them by the so-called Christians who had driven and persecuted them.
The Saints were generally ready to respond to calls to advance the cause of God, and there were sympathies existing in their hearts towards each other. Prayers had been offered up that the time might come that the order of Zion might be established, that Jackson County might be built up, yet when the thing came along, the Saints appeared to be struck with surprise. There was nothing new in a people being self-sustaining, and organizing in a common bond of union. Certain articles were required for sustenance, and it was only a question as to whether we shall make those things ourselves or employ others to do this labor for us.
The wool and hides raised in the Territory should be kept here and worked up into articles which were required for wear. The speaker mentioned a large number of branches of industry that might be in operation. It was time the people stopped purchasing goods and learned how to make them. There was only one side to the question at issue, and that was in favor of union, peace and prosperity.
Elder Taylor then alluded to the progress of co-operation at Brigham City, where there were a woolen factory, tannery, harness shop, boot and shoe shop, hat factory, dairy and other branches, all on the co-operation plan, and described the benefits which had already flowed to the people there from the adoption and practice of co-operative principles.
addressed the Conference on the same subject treated upon by President Smith. The principles embodied in the ideas now being advanced to the Latter-day Saints, were not particularly new, yet that they should be objected to by those who are opposed to the work of God was not to be wondered at. The Latter-day Saints could not conform, however, to the ideas of other people and give up their religion. They had been asked to do this in Missouri, but they did not comply, and they were driven from their homes. The Saints united together then and helped each other to leave that part of the country. The same had been done in other places, until the people came here, that they might enjoy that freedom of conscience which was denied them by the so-called Christians who had driven and persecuted them.
The Saints were generally ready to respond to calls to advance the cause of God, and there were sympathies existing in their hearts towards each other. Prayers had been offered up that the time might come that the order of Zion might be established, that Jackson County might be built up, yet when the thing came along, the Saints appeared to be struck with surprise. There was nothing new in a people being self-sustaining, and organizing in a common bond of union. Certain articles were required for sustenance, and it was only a question as to whether we shall make those things ourselves or employ others to do this labor for us.
The wool and hides raised in the Territory should be kept here and worked up into articles which were required for wear. The speaker mentioned a large number of branches of industry that might be in operation. It was time the people stopped purchasing goods and learned how to make them. There was only one side to the question at issue, and that was in favor of union, peace and prosperity.
Elder Taylor then alluded to the progress of co-operation at Brigham City, where there were a woolen factory, tannery, harness shop, boot and shoe shop, hat factory, dairy and other branches, all on the co-operation plan, and described the benefits which had already flowed to the people there from the adoption and practice of co-operative principles.
The Position the Saints Have Occupied Has Been a Peculiar One—The Unity of the Saints—Home Manufacture Preferable to Importation—Organization Necessary to Self-Sustenance
Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
Those things which we have been listening to are of very great importance to the Latter-day Saints. Situated as we are, entertaining the views that we do, in possession of the light and intelligence that have been communicated unto us, we stand, in these respects, in an entirely different position from that of the world with which we are surrounded; and, as has already been stated, it is necessary that we begin to reflect a little upon that which has been revealed to us, that we may understand our position and relationship to each other, the duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us as fathers, as mothers, as children, as Elders of Israel, and in all the various relationships of life, and that we may comprehend the requirements made of us by our heavenly Father. Some of those things which have been presented before us are obvious to every reflecting mind, there is nothing strange, anomalous or peculiar about them; they are things which have been more or less advocated by different statesmen among the various nations of the earth, and, according to circumstances, they have been adopted, more or less, by a great many people, and we, the Latter-day Saints, have approached nearer to them than many of us seem to have any idea of. There would not be time, at present, to enter into an elaborate detail of the various plans, ideas and workings involved in the principles which have been presented before us this morning; but in taking a cursory view of our position, we shall find that it is very different from that of any other people. We have already carried out a great many of those things which have been referred to, that is, a great many of us have; not all. The position that we have occupied in this nation, in the States of Missouri and Illinois, and in the various countries of those States, and the history of this people has been a very peculiar one. It is true, as has been said that if we would give up our religion, and act and feel as others act and feel, we should be hail fellows well met with the world, and we could have the fellowship of the devil and all his imps. We could have this all the time if we would conform our ideas to theirs. But what are their ideas? Who can describe them? They are simply a babel of contrarieties, contradictions, confusion, ignorance, darkness, speculation, mystery, folly, vanity, crime, iniquity and every kind of evil that man can think of, and if we were willing to join in with this it would be all right, and we should be hail fellows well met. But we do not propose to do that. God has spoken from the heavens; the light and intelligence which exist in the eternal worlds have been communicated, the heavens have been opened and the revelations of God given to man, and we have participated in them in part, and the light thus received has enabled us to look at the world as it is; it has opened to our view the visions of eternity; it has made us acquainted with our God, with the principles of truth, and we would not barter that for all the world has to give us. We rejoice, therefore, and thank God for the light and intelligence that he has communicated to us, and so far we have measurably been one, and we could not have helped ourselves and prevented it, if we had desired to, for the world was determined to make us one, or make hypocrites of us, like themselves; one of the two. We had either got to be one, or deny the principles that God has implanted in every honest man's soul, and we would not do that. No man will barter his independence, no man will barter his convictions, no man, who is intelligent and honorable, will barter his religion or his politics at the caprice of any other man. God has implanted certain principles in man, and as long as manhood is retained they cannot be obliterated, they are written there as in letters of living fire, and there they will remain so long as we retain our manhood and standing before God. What has been the result of this, so far as it has gone? Why, when the people in Missouri proposed that we should live among them in peace if we would leave our religion, did we do it? Not quite. What did we do? We clung to our religion. And what did those honest, generous, gentle, intelligent, Christian people do? Robbed us of nearly all we possessed, and with the balance we agreed to help one another to get to some place where men could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience, if such a place could be found in republican America. Well, we left. Did we unite? Yes, we did; and every man that had a team, a wagon, two, three or four horses, two, three, four, five or six yoke of cattle, or bread, money or clothing, distributed among his brethren, and we helped one another out until every man who wanted to leave had left. There might have been a few miserable “skeezeks,” such as we have among us here, a few miserable hounds left, but what of them? Why, nothing at all, they did not think anything of themselves, and nobody thought anything of them.
We commenced again in Illinois, just on the same principle. There we built a Temple, and performed the ordinances of God in his house; there we attended to our sacraments, entered into our covenants, and commenced anew to worship God according to the dictates of our own consciences, and there again we found a lot of Christians, just the same as in Missouri, who did not like our religion. Said they—“Gentlemen, we do not like your religion; but if you will be like us, you can live among us; if you do not believe and worship God as we do, you cannot stay here.” Well, we could not quite come it then, any more than we did before; and they killed Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, burnt our houses, destroyed our property, and let loose mobs upon us, and deprived us of the rights of American citizens; and finally we had to leave the States and come out among the red men of the desert, that we might find that protection among the savages that Christendom denied us. How did we get here? We helped one another. In the Temple that we had erected, and dedicated to the Most High God, we lifted up our hands before God, and covenanted before him that we would help one another to leave that land, so long as there was one left in it who desired to leave. Did we keep this covenant? We did. Why? Because we felt an interest in the welfare of our brethren; we believed in our religion, in building up the kingdom of God, and in carrying out his purposes and designs. The Christians object to all this? Of course they do, but who cares about them? I do not, not one straw; we have had so much of their tender mercies, that they take no effect now upon us. Again, we pay our Tithing. Some may inquire—“Do not the Priesthood rob you?” I do not know, I do not think we are robbed very much, or that we are very much injured. We do not do enough of it to be injured very much, we are something like what the boy said of his father. A man asked a boy—“Are you a Mormon?” “Yes.” “Is your father a Mormon?” Said the boy—“Yes, but he don't potter much at it.” There are a great many of us who do not potter much at it, but still we make the attempt.
What have we done since we came here? Before the railroad was made, we sent from here, year after year, as many as five hundred teams to help the poor who were unable to help themselves. Hence you see that a good deal of this unity of action has been carried out among us, but we have only pottered a little at it, we have not got right into the matter, only in part.
Our Ladies' Relief and other societies and organizations have done a good deal of this kind of thing, and they are looking after the interests of the poor, the widow and the fatherless. What is the business of our Bishops? Why, to attend to these things. Do they do it? They do. And then, if there is any enterprise, or anything required, the people are ready to take hold and do it, independent, say, of these covenants we have heard spoken of. A short time ago, in St. George, they commenced to build a Temple. Men were called upon from different parts, some from this city, a great many from Sanpete County, and from the different settlements, to go and assist down in that locality in building the Temple. Did they do it? Yes. Was there much grunting about it? I have not heard that there was. I happened to be in a meeting a short time ago, and it was said they wanted a little means to help to clothe these men, and to furnish them certain things, and in a very little while there were some ten or twelve hundred dollars subscribed, without any grunting. There is a feeling of sympathy in the hearts of Latter-day Saints towards one another, and for the upbuilding and advancement of the kingdom of God. But yet some of us are a little startled when we hear about uniting our properties, &c. I am amused sometimes to see the manifestation of feeling by some on this subject. We have been praying a long while that we might go back to Jackson County, and build up the Center Stake of Zion; that we might enter into the United Order of God, and be one in both temporal and spiritual things, in fact in everything; yet when it comes along it startles us, we are confused and hardly know what to think of it. This reminds me of an anecdote, which I will relate to you. Among the passengers on a steamer crossing the Atlantic, was a very zealous minister who was all the time preaching to those on board about the glory and happiness of heaven, and how happy they would all be when they got there. During the voyage a very heavy storm arose, and the vessel was drifted from her course and was in great danger of striking on a reef of rocks. The captain went to examine his chart, and after a while returned with a very sorrowful face, and said—“Ladies and gentlemen, in twenty minutes from this time we shall all be in heaven.” “God forbid!” said the minister. Many of us are a good deal like this minister; for years we have been talking about a new order of things, about union and happiness, and about going back to Jackson County, but the moment it is presented to us we say—“God forbid.” But then on sober, second thought, another feeling seems to inspire us, and wherever we go, a spirit seems to rest upon the people which leads them almost unanimously to embark in these things; and when we reflect, saying nothing about our religion, an extended system of cooperation seems to agree with every principle of good common sense. Is there anything extraordinary or new in the doctrine that it is well for a community to be self-sustaining? Why, the Whigs, you know, of this country, have contended on that principle from the time of the organization of the government, and they have sanctioned it and plead in its behalf before Congress, in political caucuses, and before the people up to the present time. There is nothing new in the doctrine of a people being self-sustaining. The first Napoleon introduced into France what is known as the “Continental system,” which encouraged the production of all necessary articles at home, and it is the results of this system which today gives stability to France, and has enabled her, after the severe trials of the late war, to pay off her indebtedness and stand independent among the nations.
Now, for instance, we require a great many things in connection with human existence. We need boots and shoes, stockings, pants, vests, coats, hats, handkerchiefs, shirts, we need cloth of various kinds, and dresses, shawls, bonnets, &c., and in every reflecting mind, the question naturally arises, Is it better for us to make these things ourselves at home, or to have somebody abroad make them for us? Is it better for each man to labor separately, as we do now, or to be organized so as to make the most of our labor? We have a large number of hides here in this Territory, what do we do with them generally? Send them to the States. We raise a large amount of wool here, what do we do with it? We export a great deal of it to the States. We have got a large amount of excellent timber here, what do we do for our furniture? We send to the States for a great deal of it. Where do we get our pails and our washtubs, and all our cooper ware from? We send to the States for it. Where do we get our brooms from? From the States; and so on all the way through the catalogue, and millions on millions of dollars are sent out of the Territory every year, for the purchase of articles, most of which we could manufacture and raise at home. This is certainly very poor economy, for we have thousands and thousands of men who are desirous to get some kind of employment, and they cannot get it. Why? Because other people are making our shoes, hats, clothing, bonnets, silks, artificial flowers, and many other things that we need. This may do very well for a while in an artificial state of society; but the moment any reverse comes that kind of thing is upset, and all our calculations are destroyed.
I believe in organizing the tanners and having the hides tanned at home. When the hides are tanned I believe in organizing the shoemakers, and manufacturing our own shoes and boots, I believe in keeping our wool at home, and in having it manufactured in our own factories, and we have got as good factories here as anywhere. They should work up all the wool in the country, and if there is not enough raised to keep them running, import more. Then I believe in organizing men to take care of our stock—our cattle and sheep, and increasing the clip of wool, that we may have enough to meet the demands of the whole community. Then, when our cloth is made, I believe in organizing tailors' companies to manufacture that cloth into clothing—pants, coats, vests, and everything of the kind that we need. Then for our furniture, I believe in going into the mountains and cutting down the timber, framing it into proper shape, and then manufacturing the various articles of furniture that we need; if we require another kind of timber, import that, but make the furniture here. When we talk about cooperation, we have entered but very little into it, and it has been almost exclusively confined to the purchase of goods. There is not much in that. I wish we would learn how to produce them instead of purchasing them. I wish we could concentrate our energies, and organize all hands, old, middle-aged and young, male and female, and put them under proper directions, with proper materials to manufacture everything we need to wear and use. We have forgotten even how to make sorghum molasses, and our memories are getting short on other points. We can hardly make a hat or coat, or a pair of boots and shoes, but we have to send to the States and import these paper ones, which last a very short time and then drop to pieces, and you have your hands continually in your pockets to supply these wants, and by and by your pockets are empty. It is therefore necessary that we right about face, and begin to turn the other end to, and be self-sustaining.
The President said he would like the Elders to give both sides of the question; but there is only one side to this question, and that is union in all our operations, in everything we engage in. They started a little thing like this in Box Elder County some time ago, and I was very much pleased to see the way things went there. I have spoken about it once or twice in public. They have got their cooperative store, it is true; but that is only a small part of it. Sometime ago I asked them—“You have a factory here, haven't you?” “Yes.” “Well, do you sell your wool, send it to the States to mix up with shoddy and get an inferior article, or do you make it up yourselves?” “We make it up ourselves.” “Then you don't sell your wool, and keep your factory standing idle?” “No, we don't, our factory has never stood idle a day for want of wool since it was organized.” Said I—“That looks right. What do you do with your hides? Do you send them off?” “No, we have got a very good tannery and we tan them, and make them into leather for shoes, and for harness and for other purposes.” “Oh, indeed!” “Yes, that is the way it is.” “Well, then, what next?” “Why, when we get our shoes made, we have a saddlers' organization, and they make all the saddlery and harness we want.” “And what do you do with your cows? Do you let them run on the plains, and live or die, just as it happens, without making any cheese or butter?” “No, we have a cooperative dairy, and we have our cows in that, and we receive so much from them all the time regularly.” “Well,” said I, “that looks right. And are you all interested in this?” “Well, about two-thirds or three-fourths of us are all engaged in these matters.” “How about your store, does it run away with the best part of it?” “No.” “Does the factory get the cream of it?” “No.” “Does some keen financial man get his fingers in and grab it?” “No, we are all mutually interested in everything, the profits as well as the losses.” I have learned, since I was there, that they have made it a great success.
Now, then, if you can organize one little thing in that way, everything can be done in the same way. I was talking with President Lorenzo Snow, and he told me that they pay their men every Saturday night; they have a money of their own, and they pay their hands with it, and that is good for everything they require. And they make their arrangements unitedly, and they operate together for the general good. Said I—“How do they feel about this United Order?” “Oh,” I was told, “They are ready for anything that God may send along.” That is the feeling among the Saints, I believe, generally. I was, I think, at the biggest meeting I ever attended in Ogden City, along with some of the Presidency and Twelve and others, and I never saw more unanimity among the people on any question than on this one. That big Tabernacle was full, and the aisles were full, and everything was jammed to overflowing, and when a vote was called, nearly every hand went up. I thank God that his Spirit is operating upon the Latter-day Saints, and is leading them to a union in regard to these things.
May God help us, and lead us in the right path, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Adjourned till 2 p. m.
The choir sang: Jerusalem, my glorious home.
Benediction by Elder Orson Pratt.
Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
Those things which we have been listening to are of very great importance to the Latter-day Saints. Situated as we are, entertaining the views that we do, in possession of the light and intelligence that have been communicated unto us, we stand, in these respects, in an entirely different position from that of the world with which we are surrounded; and, as has already been stated, it is necessary that we begin to reflect a little upon that which has been revealed to us, that we may understand our position and relationship to each other, the duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us as fathers, as mothers, as children, as Elders of Israel, and in all the various relationships of life, and that we may comprehend the requirements made of us by our heavenly Father. Some of those things which have been presented before us are obvious to every reflecting mind, there is nothing strange, anomalous or peculiar about them; they are things which have been more or less advocated by different statesmen among the various nations of the earth, and, according to circumstances, they have been adopted, more or less, by a great many people, and we, the Latter-day Saints, have approached nearer to them than many of us seem to have any idea of. There would not be time, at present, to enter into an elaborate detail of the various plans, ideas and workings involved in the principles which have been presented before us this morning; but in taking a cursory view of our position, we shall find that it is very different from that of any other people. We have already carried out a great many of those things which have been referred to, that is, a great many of us have; not all. The position that we have occupied in this nation, in the States of Missouri and Illinois, and in the various countries of those States, and the history of this people has been a very peculiar one. It is true, as has been said that if we would give up our religion, and act and feel as others act and feel, we should be hail fellows well met with the world, and we could have the fellowship of the devil and all his imps. We could have this all the time if we would conform our ideas to theirs. But what are their ideas? Who can describe them? They are simply a babel of contrarieties, contradictions, confusion, ignorance, darkness, speculation, mystery, folly, vanity, crime, iniquity and every kind of evil that man can think of, and if we were willing to join in with this it would be all right, and we should be hail fellows well met. But we do not propose to do that. God has spoken from the heavens; the light and intelligence which exist in the eternal worlds have been communicated, the heavens have been opened and the revelations of God given to man, and we have participated in them in part, and the light thus received has enabled us to look at the world as it is; it has opened to our view the visions of eternity; it has made us acquainted with our God, with the principles of truth, and we would not barter that for all the world has to give us. We rejoice, therefore, and thank God for the light and intelligence that he has communicated to us, and so far we have measurably been one, and we could not have helped ourselves and prevented it, if we had desired to, for the world was determined to make us one, or make hypocrites of us, like themselves; one of the two. We had either got to be one, or deny the principles that God has implanted in every honest man's soul, and we would not do that. No man will barter his independence, no man will barter his convictions, no man, who is intelligent and honorable, will barter his religion or his politics at the caprice of any other man. God has implanted certain principles in man, and as long as manhood is retained they cannot be obliterated, they are written there as in letters of living fire, and there they will remain so long as we retain our manhood and standing before God. What has been the result of this, so far as it has gone? Why, when the people in Missouri proposed that we should live among them in peace if we would leave our religion, did we do it? Not quite. What did we do? We clung to our religion. And what did those honest, generous, gentle, intelligent, Christian people do? Robbed us of nearly all we possessed, and with the balance we agreed to help one another to get to some place where men could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience, if such a place could be found in republican America. Well, we left. Did we unite? Yes, we did; and every man that had a team, a wagon, two, three or four horses, two, three, four, five or six yoke of cattle, or bread, money or clothing, distributed among his brethren, and we helped one another out until every man who wanted to leave had left. There might have been a few miserable “skeezeks,” such as we have among us here, a few miserable hounds left, but what of them? Why, nothing at all, they did not think anything of themselves, and nobody thought anything of them.
We commenced again in Illinois, just on the same principle. There we built a Temple, and performed the ordinances of God in his house; there we attended to our sacraments, entered into our covenants, and commenced anew to worship God according to the dictates of our own consciences, and there again we found a lot of Christians, just the same as in Missouri, who did not like our religion. Said they—“Gentlemen, we do not like your religion; but if you will be like us, you can live among us; if you do not believe and worship God as we do, you cannot stay here.” Well, we could not quite come it then, any more than we did before; and they killed Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, burnt our houses, destroyed our property, and let loose mobs upon us, and deprived us of the rights of American citizens; and finally we had to leave the States and come out among the red men of the desert, that we might find that protection among the savages that Christendom denied us. How did we get here? We helped one another. In the Temple that we had erected, and dedicated to the Most High God, we lifted up our hands before God, and covenanted before him that we would help one another to leave that land, so long as there was one left in it who desired to leave. Did we keep this covenant? We did. Why? Because we felt an interest in the welfare of our brethren; we believed in our religion, in building up the kingdom of God, and in carrying out his purposes and designs. The Christians object to all this? Of course they do, but who cares about them? I do not, not one straw; we have had so much of their tender mercies, that they take no effect now upon us. Again, we pay our Tithing. Some may inquire—“Do not the Priesthood rob you?” I do not know, I do not think we are robbed very much, or that we are very much injured. We do not do enough of it to be injured very much, we are something like what the boy said of his father. A man asked a boy—“Are you a Mormon?” “Yes.” “Is your father a Mormon?” Said the boy—“Yes, but he don't potter much at it.” There are a great many of us who do not potter much at it, but still we make the attempt.
What have we done since we came here? Before the railroad was made, we sent from here, year after year, as many as five hundred teams to help the poor who were unable to help themselves. Hence you see that a good deal of this unity of action has been carried out among us, but we have only pottered a little at it, we have not got right into the matter, only in part.
Our Ladies' Relief and other societies and organizations have done a good deal of this kind of thing, and they are looking after the interests of the poor, the widow and the fatherless. What is the business of our Bishops? Why, to attend to these things. Do they do it? They do. And then, if there is any enterprise, or anything required, the people are ready to take hold and do it, independent, say, of these covenants we have heard spoken of. A short time ago, in St. George, they commenced to build a Temple. Men were called upon from different parts, some from this city, a great many from Sanpete County, and from the different settlements, to go and assist down in that locality in building the Temple. Did they do it? Yes. Was there much grunting about it? I have not heard that there was. I happened to be in a meeting a short time ago, and it was said they wanted a little means to help to clothe these men, and to furnish them certain things, and in a very little while there were some ten or twelve hundred dollars subscribed, without any grunting. There is a feeling of sympathy in the hearts of Latter-day Saints towards one another, and for the upbuilding and advancement of the kingdom of God. But yet some of us are a little startled when we hear about uniting our properties, &c. I am amused sometimes to see the manifestation of feeling by some on this subject. We have been praying a long while that we might go back to Jackson County, and build up the Center Stake of Zion; that we might enter into the United Order of God, and be one in both temporal and spiritual things, in fact in everything; yet when it comes along it startles us, we are confused and hardly know what to think of it. This reminds me of an anecdote, which I will relate to you. Among the passengers on a steamer crossing the Atlantic, was a very zealous minister who was all the time preaching to those on board about the glory and happiness of heaven, and how happy they would all be when they got there. During the voyage a very heavy storm arose, and the vessel was drifted from her course and was in great danger of striking on a reef of rocks. The captain went to examine his chart, and after a while returned with a very sorrowful face, and said—“Ladies and gentlemen, in twenty minutes from this time we shall all be in heaven.” “God forbid!” said the minister. Many of us are a good deal like this minister; for years we have been talking about a new order of things, about union and happiness, and about going back to Jackson County, but the moment it is presented to us we say—“God forbid.” But then on sober, second thought, another feeling seems to inspire us, and wherever we go, a spirit seems to rest upon the people which leads them almost unanimously to embark in these things; and when we reflect, saying nothing about our religion, an extended system of cooperation seems to agree with every principle of good common sense. Is there anything extraordinary or new in the doctrine that it is well for a community to be self-sustaining? Why, the Whigs, you know, of this country, have contended on that principle from the time of the organization of the government, and they have sanctioned it and plead in its behalf before Congress, in political caucuses, and before the people up to the present time. There is nothing new in the doctrine of a people being self-sustaining. The first Napoleon introduced into France what is known as the “Continental system,” which encouraged the production of all necessary articles at home, and it is the results of this system which today gives stability to France, and has enabled her, after the severe trials of the late war, to pay off her indebtedness and stand independent among the nations.
Now, for instance, we require a great many things in connection with human existence. We need boots and shoes, stockings, pants, vests, coats, hats, handkerchiefs, shirts, we need cloth of various kinds, and dresses, shawls, bonnets, &c., and in every reflecting mind, the question naturally arises, Is it better for us to make these things ourselves at home, or to have somebody abroad make them for us? Is it better for each man to labor separately, as we do now, or to be organized so as to make the most of our labor? We have a large number of hides here in this Territory, what do we do with them generally? Send them to the States. We raise a large amount of wool here, what do we do with it? We export a great deal of it to the States. We have got a large amount of excellent timber here, what do we do for our furniture? We send to the States for a great deal of it. Where do we get our pails and our washtubs, and all our cooper ware from? We send to the States for it. Where do we get our brooms from? From the States; and so on all the way through the catalogue, and millions on millions of dollars are sent out of the Territory every year, for the purchase of articles, most of which we could manufacture and raise at home. This is certainly very poor economy, for we have thousands and thousands of men who are desirous to get some kind of employment, and they cannot get it. Why? Because other people are making our shoes, hats, clothing, bonnets, silks, artificial flowers, and many other things that we need. This may do very well for a while in an artificial state of society; but the moment any reverse comes that kind of thing is upset, and all our calculations are destroyed.
I believe in organizing the tanners and having the hides tanned at home. When the hides are tanned I believe in organizing the shoemakers, and manufacturing our own shoes and boots, I believe in keeping our wool at home, and in having it manufactured in our own factories, and we have got as good factories here as anywhere. They should work up all the wool in the country, and if there is not enough raised to keep them running, import more. Then I believe in organizing men to take care of our stock—our cattle and sheep, and increasing the clip of wool, that we may have enough to meet the demands of the whole community. Then, when our cloth is made, I believe in organizing tailors' companies to manufacture that cloth into clothing—pants, coats, vests, and everything of the kind that we need. Then for our furniture, I believe in going into the mountains and cutting down the timber, framing it into proper shape, and then manufacturing the various articles of furniture that we need; if we require another kind of timber, import that, but make the furniture here. When we talk about cooperation, we have entered but very little into it, and it has been almost exclusively confined to the purchase of goods. There is not much in that. I wish we would learn how to produce them instead of purchasing them. I wish we could concentrate our energies, and organize all hands, old, middle-aged and young, male and female, and put them under proper directions, with proper materials to manufacture everything we need to wear and use. We have forgotten even how to make sorghum molasses, and our memories are getting short on other points. We can hardly make a hat or coat, or a pair of boots and shoes, but we have to send to the States and import these paper ones, which last a very short time and then drop to pieces, and you have your hands continually in your pockets to supply these wants, and by and by your pockets are empty. It is therefore necessary that we right about face, and begin to turn the other end to, and be self-sustaining.
The President said he would like the Elders to give both sides of the question; but there is only one side to this question, and that is union in all our operations, in everything we engage in. They started a little thing like this in Box Elder County some time ago, and I was very much pleased to see the way things went there. I have spoken about it once or twice in public. They have got their cooperative store, it is true; but that is only a small part of it. Sometime ago I asked them—“You have a factory here, haven't you?” “Yes.” “Well, do you sell your wool, send it to the States to mix up with shoddy and get an inferior article, or do you make it up yourselves?” “We make it up ourselves.” “Then you don't sell your wool, and keep your factory standing idle?” “No, we don't, our factory has never stood idle a day for want of wool since it was organized.” Said I—“That looks right. What do you do with your hides? Do you send them off?” “No, we have got a very good tannery and we tan them, and make them into leather for shoes, and for harness and for other purposes.” “Oh, indeed!” “Yes, that is the way it is.” “Well, then, what next?” “Why, when we get our shoes made, we have a saddlers' organization, and they make all the saddlery and harness we want.” “And what do you do with your cows? Do you let them run on the plains, and live or die, just as it happens, without making any cheese or butter?” “No, we have a cooperative dairy, and we have our cows in that, and we receive so much from them all the time regularly.” “Well,” said I, “that looks right. And are you all interested in this?” “Well, about two-thirds or three-fourths of us are all engaged in these matters.” “How about your store, does it run away with the best part of it?” “No.” “Does the factory get the cream of it?” “No.” “Does some keen financial man get his fingers in and grab it?” “No, we are all mutually interested in everything, the profits as well as the losses.” I have learned, since I was there, that they have made it a great success.
Now, then, if you can organize one little thing in that way, everything can be done in the same way. I was talking with President Lorenzo Snow, and he told me that they pay their men every Saturday night; they have a money of their own, and they pay their hands with it, and that is good for everything they require. And they make their arrangements unitedly, and they operate together for the general good. Said I—“How do they feel about this United Order?” “Oh,” I was told, “They are ready for anything that God may send along.” That is the feeling among the Saints, I believe, generally. I was, I think, at the biggest meeting I ever attended in Ogden City, along with some of the Presidency and Twelve and others, and I never saw more unanimity among the people on any question than on this one. That big Tabernacle was full, and the aisles were full, and everything was jammed to overflowing, and when a vote was called, nearly every hand went up. I thank God that his Spirit is operating upon the Latter-day Saints, and is leading them to a union in regard to these things.
May God help us, and lead us in the right path, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Adjourned till 2 p. m.
The choir sang: Jerusalem, my glorious home.
Benediction by Elder Orson Pratt.
FIRST DAY AFTERNOON.
What wondrous things we now behold, By prophets seen in days of old, was sung by the choir.
Prayer was offered by Elder Wilford Woodruff.
The choir sang—Great God, attend while Zion sings The joy that from thy presence springs.
What wondrous things we now behold, By prophets seen in days of old, was sung by the choir.
Prayer was offered by Elder Wilford Woodruff.
The choir sang—Great God, attend while Zion sings The joy that from thy presence springs.
Elder Orson Pratt
addressed the Conference on the United Order. He gave a brief history of this Order as it had existed in different ages of the world. In the fall of 1830 Joseph Smith translated the fore part of the book of Genesis. In it was a revelation given by God to Enoch, the seventh from Adam. Enoch was commanded to preach to the inhabitants of the earth the gospel of Christ. He obeyed the command, and built up branches of the church in various parts. Eventually the people who obeyed the warning he gave gathered together as the Latter-day Saints had done, and they built up a city, and the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and of one mind, and had no poor among them. After Enoch had fulfilled his mission of preaching to and gathering the people he continued preaching for three hundred and sixty-five years, at the end of which time they were prepared to leave this earth. That people, before their translation, had great power, by the exercise of which their enemies, who sought to destroy them, were defeated. The Lord made known to them that eventually the earth, in answer to their prayers, would be freed from wickedness, but that that time had not yet come; that they would be taken to another sphere, until the latter times, when they would again come to earth.
The speaker then traced the history of the people of God in every dispensation, from the time of the flood until the latter times, and showed the different extents to which a united order of things had been practiced or rejected in different ages. The disciples in the days of Jesus and the ancient apostles, sold their possessions and laid the proceeds at the feet of the Apostles, which would not have been necessary had the Jews been willing to accede to the laws of an organization involving a union of property.
He next dwelt upon the visit of Jesus to the Nephites on this continent, the establishment of his Church, the organization of a universal united order amongst them, the blessings and prosperity that were poured out upon them among them. Subsequently they began to withdraw from that glorious order of things, the fostering hand of God was consequently withdrawn from them, distinctions of classes sprang up, there being rich and poor. The people divided under the names of Lamanites and Nephites, and they warred with each other until the Nephites were all destroyed from the earth.
In 1830, God gave a commandment to Joseph to organize the Church of Christ, which was done on the 6th day of April of the same year. In 1831 a Conference was held at the house where the church was organized. During the summer of 1831 the Lord revealed through the Prophet Joseph that the centre stake of Zion should be in Jackson County, Missouri, and indicated the spot where the Temple should be built. It was also revealed that those who should gather up there should consecrate all their property.
We had heard of the difficulties that had been in the way of the establishment of the United Order, in the covetousness of the people. The Lord gave a revelation that the names of those who would reject the law of consecration would be blotted out from the books, and also that if the children of Zion would not comply with his law they should be driven out of the land, that they should be persecuted, and the land would not be a Zion to them, and but few should stand to receive their inheritances in it; and how strikingly had these things been fulfilled. It was promised, however, that inasmuch as this people would repent they should return to Jackson County and build up Zion; but few, however, of those who were driven from Jackson County would be left remaining to participate in that work.
Elder Pratt then read some revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, relating to the establishment of the United Order of Zion, and related and explained the circumstances connected with efforts of the Lord, through Joseph Smith, to inaugurate it in the early history of the church, showing that the people were too full of covetousness to fully receive and practice it.
Those who entered into this Order now should remember that it is a most holy and sacred covenant, which could not be lightly treated with impunity.
addressed the Conference on the United Order. He gave a brief history of this Order as it had existed in different ages of the world. In the fall of 1830 Joseph Smith translated the fore part of the book of Genesis. In it was a revelation given by God to Enoch, the seventh from Adam. Enoch was commanded to preach to the inhabitants of the earth the gospel of Christ. He obeyed the command, and built up branches of the church in various parts. Eventually the people who obeyed the warning he gave gathered together as the Latter-day Saints had done, and they built up a city, and the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and of one mind, and had no poor among them. After Enoch had fulfilled his mission of preaching to and gathering the people he continued preaching for three hundred and sixty-five years, at the end of which time they were prepared to leave this earth. That people, before their translation, had great power, by the exercise of which their enemies, who sought to destroy them, were defeated. The Lord made known to them that eventually the earth, in answer to their prayers, would be freed from wickedness, but that that time had not yet come; that they would be taken to another sphere, until the latter times, when they would again come to earth.
The speaker then traced the history of the people of God in every dispensation, from the time of the flood until the latter times, and showed the different extents to which a united order of things had been practiced or rejected in different ages. The disciples in the days of Jesus and the ancient apostles, sold their possessions and laid the proceeds at the feet of the Apostles, which would not have been necessary had the Jews been willing to accede to the laws of an organization involving a union of property.
He next dwelt upon the visit of Jesus to the Nephites on this continent, the establishment of his Church, the organization of a universal united order amongst them, the blessings and prosperity that were poured out upon them among them. Subsequently they began to withdraw from that glorious order of things, the fostering hand of God was consequently withdrawn from them, distinctions of classes sprang up, there being rich and poor. The people divided under the names of Lamanites and Nephites, and they warred with each other until the Nephites were all destroyed from the earth.
In 1830, God gave a commandment to Joseph to organize the Church of Christ, which was done on the 6th day of April of the same year. In 1831 a Conference was held at the house where the church was organized. During the summer of 1831 the Lord revealed through the Prophet Joseph that the centre stake of Zion should be in Jackson County, Missouri, and indicated the spot where the Temple should be built. It was also revealed that those who should gather up there should consecrate all their property.
We had heard of the difficulties that had been in the way of the establishment of the United Order, in the covetousness of the people. The Lord gave a revelation that the names of those who would reject the law of consecration would be blotted out from the books, and also that if the children of Zion would not comply with his law they should be driven out of the land, that they should be persecuted, and the land would not be a Zion to them, and but few should stand to receive their inheritances in it; and how strikingly had these things been fulfilled. It was promised, however, that inasmuch as this people would repent they should return to Jackson County and build up Zion; but few, however, of those who were driven from Jackson County would be left remaining to participate in that work.
Elder Pratt then read some revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, relating to the establishment of the United Order of Zion, and related and explained the circumstances connected with efforts of the Lord, through Joseph Smith, to inaugurate it in the early history of the church, showing that the people were too full of covetousness to fully receive and practice it.
Those who entered into this Order now should remember that it is a most holy and sacred covenant, which could not be lightly treated with impunity.
At the request of President Brigham Young, Elder David McKenzie read to the Conference the preamble and articles of agreement adopted by the United Order of St. George, which explained the reasons and causes leading to the organization of the Order, and also indicated its character by the nature of the conditions imposed in the agreement.
Fourteen rules were adopted by the Order of St. George, for guidance in the daily walk and conversation of the members, which would create a most desirable condition of things, whenever practiced in fulness.
Fourteen rules were adopted by the Order of St. George, for guidance in the daily walk and conversation of the members, which would create a most desirable condition of things, whenever practiced in fulness.
President Brigham Young said--
You can readily perceive that the United Order will be conducted strictly upon business principles, as much so as the business of any mercantile firm or bank in the country. No business will be attended to more strictly and correctly than our business in this Order, so that we can give an account to those who may have the right to ask it at any time. We shall not ask the people, at present, how they like the rules and regulations that have just been read; but before we get through with the Conference we expect to organize the centre stake of Zion in these mountains. Then we shall ask you how you like these rules, and shall perhaps have them read to you again. In the meantime, study the matter over thoroughly, so that you can comprehend the objects and designs of the Order and what it will do for the people. I can tell you now, what it will do for you. It will not make any person any worse off in temporal matters, but it will place thousands and hundreds of thousands in a condition in which they will be as comfortable and as happy as they can desire. And when the question is asked—“Whose is this?”—the earnings and savings of this community, organized to sustain and promote the kingdom of God on the earth, the answer will be—“It is ours, and we are the Lord’s, and all that we have belongs to him. He has placed this in our possession for our improvement and to see what we will do with it, and whether we will devote ourselves, our time, talents and means for the salvation of the human family.”
It is time for us to close, and we shall adjourn until to-morrow morning at 10 o’clock.
The choir will sing an anthem.
Adjourned till Friday morning at ten o’clock.
The choir sang—O, be joyful in the Lord.
Benediction by Elder Lorenzo Snow.
You can readily perceive that the United Order will be conducted strictly upon business principles, as much so as the business of any mercantile firm or bank in the country. No business will be attended to more strictly and correctly than our business in this Order, so that we can give an account to those who may have the right to ask it at any time. We shall not ask the people, at present, how they like the rules and regulations that have just been read; but before we get through with the Conference we expect to organize the centre stake of Zion in these mountains. Then we shall ask you how you like these rules, and shall perhaps have them read to you again. In the meantime, study the matter over thoroughly, so that you can comprehend the objects and designs of the Order and what it will do for the people. I can tell you now, what it will do for you. It will not make any person any worse off in temporal matters, but it will place thousands and hundreds of thousands in a condition in which they will be as comfortable and as happy as they can desire. And when the question is asked—“Whose is this?”—the earnings and savings of this community, organized to sustain and promote the kingdom of God on the earth, the answer will be—“It is ours, and we are the Lord’s, and all that we have belongs to him. He has placed this in our possession for our improvement and to see what we will do with it, and whether we will devote ourselves, our time, talents and means for the salvation of the human family.”
It is time for us to close, and we shall adjourn until to-morrow morning at 10 o’clock.
The choir will sing an anthem.
Adjourned till Friday morning at ten o’clock.
The choir sang—O, be joyful in the Lord.
Benediction by Elder Lorenzo Snow.
SECOND DAY.
Friday Morning, May 8th.
The choir sang: An angel from on high, The long, long silence broke.
Prayer by Elder Albert Carrington.
Singing by the choir of Sweet is the work, my God, my King, To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing,
Friday Morning, May 8th.
The choir sang: An angel from on high, The long, long silence broke.
Prayer by Elder Albert Carrington.
Singing by the choir of Sweet is the work, my God, my King, To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing,
Elder Wilford Woodruff
said he would not make a very able advocate against the establishment of the United Order of Zion. He had thought on the subject, and could come to no other conclusions than those that were favorable to it. It might deprive us of the privilege of purchasing mustard from abroad and cause us to utilize that which grows on our farms; it might prevent us having the privilege of using brooms made by strangers, and cause us to make those articles ourselves.
It was time that a change took place among the Latter-day Saints. There were many advantages that would accrue to them by uniting together in temporal concerns. It was surprising that any money was left in the Territory at all, under the ruinous importing and non-exporting policy that had been pursued heretofore. Aside from financial considerations, we believed in the revelations of God. The Latter-day Saints had not been prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven in the condition in which they had been. It appeared that the day had come to favor and make a change in Zion. The Spirit of the Lord had more or less borne testimony to the congregations of the Saints regarding the correctness of the principles of the United Order. It had been a hard matter for us to bring our minds to the condition when we would be willing to be controlled in our affairs by the Lord. This was because there was a veil between us in our mortal condition and the heavenly worlds. Were it not so, we would always be ready and willing, but these things were measurably hid for a wise purpose.
We had a sure hope of eternal blessings according to our faithfulness, and surely there could be no question as to whether the glories and blessings of eternity were worth all the earthly possessions we might have. It was somewhat different with us in commencing this Order to what it was with the Nephites, because we began it before the wicked were destroyed, while they did after that had been done. We organized that we might be prepared for the judgments of God, which would destroy the unrighteous. The speaker felt that it was the duty of the Saints, as a people who were anticipating the coming of the Savior, and the establishment, purification and redemption of Zion, to take hold of the United Order, and should they not do so they would not enjoy the favor of the Lord. The spirit of the Lord manifested to the speaker that the Kingdom of God would progress and overcome all obstacles to its development, and eventually fill the whole earth.
said he would not make a very able advocate against the establishment of the United Order of Zion. He had thought on the subject, and could come to no other conclusions than those that were favorable to it. It might deprive us of the privilege of purchasing mustard from abroad and cause us to utilize that which grows on our farms; it might prevent us having the privilege of using brooms made by strangers, and cause us to make those articles ourselves.
It was time that a change took place among the Latter-day Saints. There were many advantages that would accrue to them by uniting together in temporal concerns. It was surprising that any money was left in the Territory at all, under the ruinous importing and non-exporting policy that had been pursued heretofore. Aside from financial considerations, we believed in the revelations of God. The Latter-day Saints had not been prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven in the condition in which they had been. It appeared that the day had come to favor and make a change in Zion. The Spirit of the Lord had more or less borne testimony to the congregations of the Saints regarding the correctness of the principles of the United Order. It had been a hard matter for us to bring our minds to the condition when we would be willing to be controlled in our affairs by the Lord. This was because there was a veil between us in our mortal condition and the heavenly worlds. Were it not so, we would always be ready and willing, but these things were measurably hid for a wise purpose.
We had a sure hope of eternal blessings according to our faithfulness, and surely there could be no question as to whether the glories and blessings of eternity were worth all the earthly possessions we might have. It was somewhat different with us in commencing this Order to what it was with the Nephites, because we began it before the wicked were destroyed, while they did after that had been done. We organized that we might be prepared for the judgments of God, which would destroy the unrighteous. The speaker felt that it was the duty of the Saints, as a people who were anticipating the coming of the Savior, and the establishment, purification and redemption of Zion, to take hold of the United Order, and should they not do so they would not enjoy the favor of the Lord. The spirit of the Lord manifested to the speaker that the Kingdom of God would progress and overcome all obstacles to its development, and eventually fill the whole earth.
Union is Strength—United Order Will Bring About Temporal Salvation—The Time Has Come to Favor Zion—The Judgments of God Are at the Door of This Generation
Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City Friday Morning, May 8, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
We had a request given to us, at the opening of the Conference, yesterday morning, by President Young, to give evidences for and against the United Order of Zion. I do not know that I should be a very able advocate against it. I have been looking over in my own mind, the arguments which might be brought against it, and there are a few things I will name. If we were to undertake to unite according to the spirit and letter of this order it would, in one sense of the word, deprive us of having half a dozen candidates at elections, as is the custom generally in the Christian world. It would, in a measure, deprive these candidates of the opportunity of spending a month or two stump-speeching to get the votes of the people; then, when the election came, of paying for two or three barrels of bad whiskey to treat those who are going to vote for them. Then it might deprive Alderman Clinton, or some other justice of the peace, of the chance of collecting two or three hundred dollars as fines from those who had committed a breach of the peace. It might deprive the Benedicts and other surgeons of the opportunity of collecting five hundred or a thousand dollars for mending broken arms and legs got in free fights. Probably it would deprive the people of the opportunity of spending fifty or a hundred thousand dollars a year in importing mustard into this Territory, and require the farmers to collect and use that which is now a nuisance on their fields. It might also deprive us of the privilege of paying a hundred thousand dollars for imported brooms, and require us to plant two or three hundred acres of broom corn. These are about the only objections that I can think of against the order, though you might carry it out in detail, perhaps, a good deal further; but with regard to the benefits arising from it, they are so numerous that it would take a long time to enumerate them. I do not think it requires a great deal of argument to prove to us that union is strength, and that a united people have power which a divided people do not possess.
I am very glad that I have lived long enough to see a day when the hearts of the people can be united so as to carry out these things, while they also act upon their own agency in receiving and obeying them. We have been a good many years preaching up the necessity of the Latter-day Saints being one in temporal as well as in spiritual things, and I have felt, for a long time, in my own mind, that there must be a change among us. The way we have been drifting, has not seemed to have a tendency, as a general thing, to carry out the purposes of the Lord, and to prepare us, as a people, for those events which await us.
In our spiritual labors we have been united in a measure, and in some things perhaps in a temporal point of view. Now, for instance, the case I referred to in regard to our elections. I do not think that, for the twenty-four years we have resided in these valleys, any man has ever paid a sixpence in order to obtain any office to which he has been elected by the votes of the people, whether as Delegate to the Congress of the United States, Governor of the Territory, member of the legislature, probate judge, or any other office. I do not think that any man who has been in office has ever even asked for it in any shape or manner. So far as this is concerned, we have been united, and we have one consolation in regard to our officers, I do not believe there has ever been a single defaulter among them in the whole Territory, so far as dollars and cents are concerned, in any office. In this respect, then, we see the advantage of being united.
There are very many advantages that will accrue to us if we unite our hearts, feelings, labors, interests, property, and everything that we are made stewards over. One thing is certain, we cannot continue in the course that we have pursued in regard to temporal matters. It is suicidal for any people to import ten dollars' worth of products while they export only one, and it is a miracle and a wonder to me that we have lived as long as we have under this order of things. We have sent millions of dollars out of the Territory every year, for articles for our home consumption, while we have exported but very little; hence I say that the establishment and success of this new order among us will bring about our temporal salvation.
We occupy a different position from the rest of the world. We believe in the revelations of Jesus Christ contained in the Bible as well as in the record or stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim—the Book of Mormon, which gives a history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. We also believe in the Book of Revelations, which were given through the mouth of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, to the Latter-day Saints and to the inhabitants of the earth. Inasmuch, then, as we believe these things, we, if we carry out our faith, must of necessity go to and prepare ourselves for the fulfillment of the revelations of God. When we are in possession of the Spirit of God, we understand that there is a change at the door, not only for us but for all the world. There are certain events awaiting the nations of the earth as well as Zion; and when these events overtake us we will be preserved if we take the counsel that is given us and unite our time, labor and means, and produce what we need for our own use; but without this, we shall not be prepared to sustain ourselves and we shall suffer loss and inconvenience thereby. I am satisfied that as a people, pursuing the course we have pursued hitherto, we are not prepared for the Zion of Enoch or the kingdom of God. There was an order carried out anciently by the people of this continent and by the people of the city of Enoch, wherever that was located, which was very different from the practice which has prevailed among the Saints of latter days; and as far as such a system being any injury to us I can see none in the world. I can see no injury that can overtake the Latter-day Saints, by their uniting together, according to the law of God, and producing from the elements that which they need to eat, drink and wear, and I feel as though the time has come for such an order to be instituted; and the readiness with which the people receive the teachings of the servants of God in regard to this matter is a testimony that the time has come to favor Zion. The Spirit of God bears witness to the congregations of the Saints of the importance of the principles which have been given unto us, and hence their readiness to receive them.
From the commencement of this work to the present day, the labor has been harder with the servants of God to get the people prepared in their hearts to let the Lord govern and control them in their temporal labor and means than in regard to matters pertaining to their eternal salvation. It was hard work for Joseph Smith to get the minds of the people prepared even to receive the Gospel in his day. But the Lord opened the way, the Gospel was preached and the Church was organized in its purity and in the order in which it existed in the days of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, and wherever the Gospel has been sent, the ears of the people have been more or less opened and a portion of them have been ready to receive it. This Gospel has been preached in every Christian nation under heaven where the laws would permit, and people from these various nations have overcome their traditions so far as to obey it; but, as I remarked before, it has been hard work for the Latter-day Saints to bring themselves to such a state of mind as to be willing for the Lord to govern them in their temporal labors. There is something strange about this, but I think, probably, it is in consequence of the position that we occupy. There is a veil between man and eternal things; if that veil was taken away and we were able to see eternal things as they are before the Lord, no man would be tried with regard to gold, silver or this world's goods, and no man, on their account, would be unwilling to let the Lord control him. But here we have an agency, and we are in a probation, and there is a veil between us and eternal things, between us and our heavenly Father and the spirit world; and this for a wise and proper purpose in the Lord our God, to prove whether the children of men will abide in his law or not in the situation in which they are placed here. Latter-day Saints, reflect upon these things. We have been willing, with every feeling of our hearts, that Joseph Smith, President Young, and the leaders of the people should guide and direct us in regard to our eternal interests; and the blessings sealed upon us by their authority reach the other side of the veil and are in force after death, and they affect our destiny to the endless ages of eternity. Men, in the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Jesus and the Apostles, had blessings sealed upon them, kingdoms, thrones, principalities and powers, with all the blessings of the New and Everlasting Covenant. The question may be asked, are these eternal blessings of interest to us? They are, or should be. Are these blessings worth our earthly wealth, whether we have little or much? Is salvation, is eternal life worth a yoke of cattle, a house, a hundred acres of land, or anything that we possess here in the flesh? If it is, we certainly ought to be as ready to permit the Lord to govern and control us in all our temporal labors as we are in our spiritual labors.
Again, when a man dies he cannot take his cattle, horses, houses or lands with him; he goes to the grave—the resting place of all flesh. No man escapes it, the law of death rests upon all. In Adam all die, while in Christ all are made alive. We all understand that death has passed upon all men, but we none of us know when our turn will come, though we know it will not be a great while before we shall be called to follow the generations who have preceded us. When we reflect upon these things, I think we all should be willing to let the Lord guide us in temporal matters. In the Book of Mormon we learn that the ancient Nephites, who dwelt on this continent, entered into, and continued in, this order for nearly two hundred years. They were wealthy and happy and the Lord blessed them. They had no poor among them. They were united in heart and in spirit, and the blessings of the Lord rested upon them. It is true they occupied a different position in one sense to what we do. They entered into this order just after the Lord had brought judgment upon the whole nation on account of their wickedness, and many of the wicked had been destroyed: their cities had also been destroyed, and it was while humbled by these judgments that they entered the United Order. But a reign of peace and prosperity rested upon them and continued until they broke the order and began to go, every man for himself and the devil for them all, then utter destruction soon overtook them.
It is different with us. We are entering this order before the wicked are destroyed. We commence it to prepare us for the great events which are at the door, for if the judgments of God ever were at the door of any generation it is this. The whole volume of Scripture points these things out to us in plain language, and all the unbelief of the inhabitants of the earth will not alter the fact, it will not change the hand of God nor stay his judgments, which are at the door of Great Babylon. She will come in remembrance before God, and he will hold a controversy with the nations; his sword is unsheathed and it will fall on Idumea, the world, and who can stay his hand? These things have been proclaimed by almost every Prophet who has ever spoken since the world began. They point to our day, and their words must have their fulfillment.
Over forty years, the Gospel of Christ has been proclaimed to this generation and to the whole Christian world as far as we have had opportunity. Light has come into the world, but men have rejected it because their deeds are evil, hence the judgments of God will rest upon the nations of the earth in fulfillment of his word through the Prophets. The Lord has called upon us to unite together and take hold of this work, and to prepare ourselves for the great events which are at hand, that when the destroying angels go forth to reap the earth, beginning at the sanctuary, they need not destroy any man upon whom is the mark set by the writer with the inkhorn, who cried and mourned because of the abominations done among men. The Prophet, in seeing the vision of these things in the last days, saw that the earth was reaped, and the reapers began at the sanctuary, and the wicked were cut off by the judgments of God.
The world now do not believe this any more than they believed in the days of Noah and Lot, and they are no more prepared for it, and they are growing wickeder and wickeder every day of their lives. Wickedness is increasing, for the devil has great dominion over the hearts of the children of men. The Lord is trying to direct and dictate his Saints and I feel that it is our duty, as a people, to unite our interests together, also our time, talents, labor, and all that we are stewards over, that as men who have faith in God, we may be prepared for those things which await us, and for the coming of the Son of Man. We are observing the signs of the times, and we can readily understand the necessity of entering into this order. I think we can all see this if we enjoy any portion of the spirit of our religion and the work of the Lord, which we profess to be engaged in. I can see everything in favor but nothing against the United Order. These teachings are of the Lord; the servants of God have been moved to call upon the people, and the Lord has moved upon the people, and their hearts are being touched by the light of the Holy Spirit, and they are entering into this organization; and my feeling is that if you and I, who profess to be the friends of God, and have entered into a covenant with him, withdraw our hearts from him that we do not see the necessity of uniting ourselves according to this law of God, we shall begin to dry up, and what little life, light, or spirit we have will leave us and we shall go down and we shall not walk in the light of the Lord. I view it as a day of decision to the Latter-day Saints throughout the whole Church and kingdom of God, and we shall find it to our advantage to decide rightly, and to walk in the path marked out for us by the servants of the Lord.
I feel to say God bless the Latter-day Saints and the honest in heart and meek of the earth throughout the whole world, and I pray that the nations may be prepared for that which is to come, for as God lives there is a change at the door, and what the ancient patriarchs and Prophets said will be fulfilled; and if I were to express my feelings as the spirit reveals to me it would be a good deal as Daniel said, that all who will not prepare themselves for the coming of Christ must get out of the way, for the little stone that was cut out of the mountains without hands will shortly grind them to powder, and they will be cast away as the chaff of the summer threshingfloor. The kingdom of God, which Daniel saw, the Zion of God in embryo, is on the earth, and is here in these mountains; and it will rise and rise, until it is clothed with the glory of God.
May God help us to prepare for his coming and kingdom, for Christ's sake. Amen.
Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City Friday Morning, May 8, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
We had a request given to us, at the opening of the Conference, yesterday morning, by President Young, to give evidences for and against the United Order of Zion. I do not know that I should be a very able advocate against it. I have been looking over in my own mind, the arguments which might be brought against it, and there are a few things I will name. If we were to undertake to unite according to the spirit and letter of this order it would, in one sense of the word, deprive us of having half a dozen candidates at elections, as is the custom generally in the Christian world. It would, in a measure, deprive these candidates of the opportunity of spending a month or two stump-speeching to get the votes of the people; then, when the election came, of paying for two or three barrels of bad whiskey to treat those who are going to vote for them. Then it might deprive Alderman Clinton, or some other justice of the peace, of the chance of collecting two or three hundred dollars as fines from those who had committed a breach of the peace. It might deprive the Benedicts and other surgeons of the opportunity of collecting five hundred or a thousand dollars for mending broken arms and legs got in free fights. Probably it would deprive the people of the opportunity of spending fifty or a hundred thousand dollars a year in importing mustard into this Territory, and require the farmers to collect and use that which is now a nuisance on their fields. It might also deprive us of the privilege of paying a hundred thousand dollars for imported brooms, and require us to plant two or three hundred acres of broom corn. These are about the only objections that I can think of against the order, though you might carry it out in detail, perhaps, a good deal further; but with regard to the benefits arising from it, they are so numerous that it would take a long time to enumerate them. I do not think it requires a great deal of argument to prove to us that union is strength, and that a united people have power which a divided people do not possess.
I am very glad that I have lived long enough to see a day when the hearts of the people can be united so as to carry out these things, while they also act upon their own agency in receiving and obeying them. We have been a good many years preaching up the necessity of the Latter-day Saints being one in temporal as well as in spiritual things, and I have felt, for a long time, in my own mind, that there must be a change among us. The way we have been drifting, has not seemed to have a tendency, as a general thing, to carry out the purposes of the Lord, and to prepare us, as a people, for those events which await us.
In our spiritual labors we have been united in a measure, and in some things perhaps in a temporal point of view. Now, for instance, the case I referred to in regard to our elections. I do not think that, for the twenty-four years we have resided in these valleys, any man has ever paid a sixpence in order to obtain any office to which he has been elected by the votes of the people, whether as Delegate to the Congress of the United States, Governor of the Territory, member of the legislature, probate judge, or any other office. I do not think that any man who has been in office has ever even asked for it in any shape or manner. So far as this is concerned, we have been united, and we have one consolation in regard to our officers, I do not believe there has ever been a single defaulter among them in the whole Territory, so far as dollars and cents are concerned, in any office. In this respect, then, we see the advantage of being united.
There are very many advantages that will accrue to us if we unite our hearts, feelings, labors, interests, property, and everything that we are made stewards over. One thing is certain, we cannot continue in the course that we have pursued in regard to temporal matters. It is suicidal for any people to import ten dollars' worth of products while they export only one, and it is a miracle and a wonder to me that we have lived as long as we have under this order of things. We have sent millions of dollars out of the Territory every year, for articles for our home consumption, while we have exported but very little; hence I say that the establishment and success of this new order among us will bring about our temporal salvation.
We occupy a different position from the rest of the world. We believe in the revelations of Jesus Christ contained in the Bible as well as in the record or stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim—the Book of Mormon, which gives a history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. We also believe in the Book of Revelations, which were given through the mouth of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, to the Latter-day Saints and to the inhabitants of the earth. Inasmuch, then, as we believe these things, we, if we carry out our faith, must of necessity go to and prepare ourselves for the fulfillment of the revelations of God. When we are in possession of the Spirit of God, we understand that there is a change at the door, not only for us but for all the world. There are certain events awaiting the nations of the earth as well as Zion; and when these events overtake us we will be preserved if we take the counsel that is given us and unite our time, labor and means, and produce what we need for our own use; but without this, we shall not be prepared to sustain ourselves and we shall suffer loss and inconvenience thereby. I am satisfied that as a people, pursuing the course we have pursued hitherto, we are not prepared for the Zion of Enoch or the kingdom of God. There was an order carried out anciently by the people of this continent and by the people of the city of Enoch, wherever that was located, which was very different from the practice which has prevailed among the Saints of latter days; and as far as such a system being any injury to us I can see none in the world. I can see no injury that can overtake the Latter-day Saints, by their uniting together, according to the law of God, and producing from the elements that which they need to eat, drink and wear, and I feel as though the time has come for such an order to be instituted; and the readiness with which the people receive the teachings of the servants of God in regard to this matter is a testimony that the time has come to favor Zion. The Spirit of God bears witness to the congregations of the Saints of the importance of the principles which have been given unto us, and hence their readiness to receive them.
From the commencement of this work to the present day, the labor has been harder with the servants of God to get the people prepared in their hearts to let the Lord govern and control them in their temporal labor and means than in regard to matters pertaining to their eternal salvation. It was hard work for Joseph Smith to get the minds of the people prepared even to receive the Gospel in his day. But the Lord opened the way, the Gospel was preached and the Church was organized in its purity and in the order in which it existed in the days of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, and wherever the Gospel has been sent, the ears of the people have been more or less opened and a portion of them have been ready to receive it. This Gospel has been preached in every Christian nation under heaven where the laws would permit, and people from these various nations have overcome their traditions so far as to obey it; but, as I remarked before, it has been hard work for the Latter-day Saints to bring themselves to such a state of mind as to be willing for the Lord to govern them in their temporal labors. There is something strange about this, but I think, probably, it is in consequence of the position that we occupy. There is a veil between man and eternal things; if that veil was taken away and we were able to see eternal things as they are before the Lord, no man would be tried with regard to gold, silver or this world's goods, and no man, on their account, would be unwilling to let the Lord control him. But here we have an agency, and we are in a probation, and there is a veil between us and eternal things, between us and our heavenly Father and the spirit world; and this for a wise and proper purpose in the Lord our God, to prove whether the children of men will abide in his law or not in the situation in which they are placed here. Latter-day Saints, reflect upon these things. We have been willing, with every feeling of our hearts, that Joseph Smith, President Young, and the leaders of the people should guide and direct us in regard to our eternal interests; and the blessings sealed upon us by their authority reach the other side of the veil and are in force after death, and they affect our destiny to the endless ages of eternity. Men, in the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Jesus and the Apostles, had blessings sealed upon them, kingdoms, thrones, principalities and powers, with all the blessings of the New and Everlasting Covenant. The question may be asked, are these eternal blessings of interest to us? They are, or should be. Are these blessings worth our earthly wealth, whether we have little or much? Is salvation, is eternal life worth a yoke of cattle, a house, a hundred acres of land, or anything that we possess here in the flesh? If it is, we certainly ought to be as ready to permit the Lord to govern and control us in all our temporal labors as we are in our spiritual labors.
Again, when a man dies he cannot take his cattle, horses, houses or lands with him; he goes to the grave—the resting place of all flesh. No man escapes it, the law of death rests upon all. In Adam all die, while in Christ all are made alive. We all understand that death has passed upon all men, but we none of us know when our turn will come, though we know it will not be a great while before we shall be called to follow the generations who have preceded us. When we reflect upon these things, I think we all should be willing to let the Lord guide us in temporal matters. In the Book of Mormon we learn that the ancient Nephites, who dwelt on this continent, entered into, and continued in, this order for nearly two hundred years. They were wealthy and happy and the Lord blessed them. They had no poor among them. They were united in heart and in spirit, and the blessings of the Lord rested upon them. It is true they occupied a different position in one sense to what we do. They entered into this order just after the Lord had brought judgment upon the whole nation on account of their wickedness, and many of the wicked had been destroyed: their cities had also been destroyed, and it was while humbled by these judgments that they entered the United Order. But a reign of peace and prosperity rested upon them and continued until they broke the order and began to go, every man for himself and the devil for them all, then utter destruction soon overtook them.
It is different with us. We are entering this order before the wicked are destroyed. We commence it to prepare us for the great events which are at the door, for if the judgments of God ever were at the door of any generation it is this. The whole volume of Scripture points these things out to us in plain language, and all the unbelief of the inhabitants of the earth will not alter the fact, it will not change the hand of God nor stay his judgments, which are at the door of Great Babylon. She will come in remembrance before God, and he will hold a controversy with the nations; his sword is unsheathed and it will fall on Idumea, the world, and who can stay his hand? These things have been proclaimed by almost every Prophet who has ever spoken since the world began. They point to our day, and their words must have their fulfillment.
Over forty years, the Gospel of Christ has been proclaimed to this generation and to the whole Christian world as far as we have had opportunity. Light has come into the world, but men have rejected it because their deeds are evil, hence the judgments of God will rest upon the nations of the earth in fulfillment of his word through the Prophets. The Lord has called upon us to unite together and take hold of this work, and to prepare ourselves for the great events which are at hand, that when the destroying angels go forth to reap the earth, beginning at the sanctuary, they need not destroy any man upon whom is the mark set by the writer with the inkhorn, who cried and mourned because of the abominations done among men. The Prophet, in seeing the vision of these things in the last days, saw that the earth was reaped, and the reapers began at the sanctuary, and the wicked were cut off by the judgments of God.
The world now do not believe this any more than they believed in the days of Noah and Lot, and they are no more prepared for it, and they are growing wickeder and wickeder every day of their lives. Wickedness is increasing, for the devil has great dominion over the hearts of the children of men. The Lord is trying to direct and dictate his Saints and I feel that it is our duty, as a people, to unite our interests together, also our time, talents, labor, and all that we are stewards over, that as men who have faith in God, we may be prepared for those things which await us, and for the coming of the Son of Man. We are observing the signs of the times, and we can readily understand the necessity of entering into this order. I think we can all see this if we enjoy any portion of the spirit of our religion and the work of the Lord, which we profess to be engaged in. I can see everything in favor but nothing against the United Order. These teachings are of the Lord; the servants of God have been moved to call upon the people, and the Lord has moved upon the people, and their hearts are being touched by the light of the Holy Spirit, and they are entering into this organization; and my feeling is that if you and I, who profess to be the friends of God, and have entered into a covenant with him, withdraw our hearts from him that we do not see the necessity of uniting ourselves according to this law of God, we shall begin to dry up, and what little life, light, or spirit we have will leave us and we shall go down and we shall not walk in the light of the Lord. I view it as a day of decision to the Latter-day Saints throughout the whole Church and kingdom of God, and we shall find it to our advantage to decide rightly, and to walk in the path marked out for us by the servants of the Lord.
I feel to say God bless the Latter-day Saints and the honest in heart and meek of the earth throughout the whole world, and I pray that the nations may be prepared for that which is to come, for as God lives there is a change at the door, and what the ancient patriarchs and Prophets said will be fulfilled; and if I were to express my feelings as the spirit reveals to me it would be a good deal as Daniel said, that all who will not prepare themselves for the coming of Christ must get out of the way, for the little stone that was cut out of the mountains without hands will shortly grind them to powder, and they will be cast away as the chaff of the summer threshingfloor. The kingdom of God, which Daniel saw, the Zion of God in embryo, is on the earth, and is here in these mountains; and it will rise and rise, until it is clothed with the glory of God.
May God help us to prepare for his coming and kingdom, for Christ's sake. Amen.
Elder Erastus Snow
also spoke on the United Order of Zion. It was a grand, comprehensive, co-operation system, designed to improve those who went into it, morally, socially, politically, domestically and in every way. It would enable us to live our religion and build up Zion. It would make us discreet in manners, dress, deportment, etc., in a way that could never be accomplished in an individual capacity. The co-operative institutions that had already been established had done much by a combination of capital. The new order, however, involved an amalgamation of capital and labor, and thus could the interests of every necessary industry be promoted among the people. The true and only righteous financial policy was to adopt and carry out such measures as would conduce to promote the greatest amount of good to the greatest number.
No principle of manly independence was lost in adopting a system of co-operation of the kind intended. It was a fundamental principle of all good society and system of government for the members thereof to surrender certain privileges that all might be mutually benefitted. The great principle involved in the United Order was each one for the whole and God for all. Among other good things it was a mutual educational society for the industrious, frugal and well behaved. Should any one seek in a selfish and covetous manner to appropriate that which he had no right to, a bit would have to be put in his mouth. It was for the strong to sustain the weak. God did not reveal to us all that was necessary to build up Zion at once, but increased and added to our light according to circumstances as they arose. If we were frank and outspoken, honest and unselfish, no power under the Heavens could cause us to fail, but if we sought to aggrandize ourselves at the expense of our fellows we should be broken up.
Our trade with the outside would not cease, but whatsoever we purchased would be got at first hand from the best markets. In the New Order of things we would have the full benefit of all our agricultural and mechanical productions; we would be enabled to purchase all kinds of labor-saving machinery. The merchants of the Order would not be any the worse off for being connected with it. It would be necessary to have men to carry on matters of exchange between the various branches of the Order. We had been somewhat afraid because of a lack of confidence in each other. The remedy for this was for each individual to establish confidence in his own heart. Those who did not enter into this Order would eventually become the unpopular ones, and when we succeeded and were established, we would be enabled to look back and wonder how it was that it took us forty years to see the necessity of adopting such grand beneficial measures.
Elder Snow continued at considerable length, and delivered a powerful, logical discourse, to which a synopsis can do but limited justice.
also spoke on the United Order of Zion. It was a grand, comprehensive, co-operation system, designed to improve those who went into it, morally, socially, politically, domestically and in every way. It would enable us to live our religion and build up Zion. It would make us discreet in manners, dress, deportment, etc., in a way that could never be accomplished in an individual capacity. The co-operative institutions that had already been established had done much by a combination of capital. The new order, however, involved an amalgamation of capital and labor, and thus could the interests of every necessary industry be promoted among the people. The true and only righteous financial policy was to adopt and carry out such measures as would conduce to promote the greatest amount of good to the greatest number.
No principle of manly independence was lost in adopting a system of co-operation of the kind intended. It was a fundamental principle of all good society and system of government for the members thereof to surrender certain privileges that all might be mutually benefitted. The great principle involved in the United Order was each one for the whole and God for all. Among other good things it was a mutual educational society for the industrious, frugal and well behaved. Should any one seek in a selfish and covetous manner to appropriate that which he had no right to, a bit would have to be put in his mouth. It was for the strong to sustain the weak. God did not reveal to us all that was necessary to build up Zion at once, but increased and added to our light according to circumstances as they arose. If we were frank and outspoken, honest and unselfish, no power under the Heavens could cause us to fail, but if we sought to aggrandize ourselves at the expense of our fellows we should be broken up.
Our trade with the outside would not cease, but whatsoever we purchased would be got at first hand from the best markets. In the New Order of things we would have the full benefit of all our agricultural and mechanical productions; we would be enabled to purchase all kinds of labor-saving machinery. The merchants of the Order would not be any the worse off for being connected with it. It would be necessary to have men to carry on matters of exchange between the various branches of the Order. We had been somewhat afraid because of a lack of confidence in each other. The remedy for this was for each individual to establish confidence in his own heart. Those who did not enter into this Order would eventually become the unpopular ones, and when we succeeded and were established, we would be enabled to look back and wonder how it was that it took us forty years to see the necessity of adopting such grand beneficial measures.
Elder Snow continued at considerable length, and delivered a powerful, logical discourse, to which a synopsis can do but limited justice.
The United Order of Zion Affords the Utmost Freedom and Liberty—Brotherly Love and Goodwill to Man—True Riches Relate to Eternity—Establish Confidence in Our Hearts With God
Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday Morning, May 8, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
The United Order of Zion, proposed for our consideration, as will be seen from the remarks that have been made by former speakers, and from the articles which were read yesterday afternoon, is a grand, comprehensive, cooperative system, designed to improve us who enter into it, financially, socially, morally and religiously; it will aid us, as Latter-day Saints, in living our religion, and in building up Zion, and help us, by a combined effort, to cultivate every virtue, to put from us every vice, to conduct ourselves and our children sensibly, and to dispense with childish follies; it will enable us to adopt sensible and discreet fashions and habits of life and style of dress and manners; all of which can be effected by combined efforts, but not easily in our individual capacities. For what man, however good be his desires, can control himself and his family in their habits and manners of life and fashions, without the aid of the surrounding community? What sensible man can hold me or my brethren responsible, in all respects, either for ourselves or our households, unaided by the community and while the community are all working against us? But when the community learn to work together, and are agreed in a common purpose, what is it that they cannot accomplish? Union is strength, and a combination of labor and capital will give us power at home and abroad. Our former cooperative systems in this Territory have accomplished very great good for us, but they have been only combinations of capital; the proposed system embraces labor as well as capital, and it designs to make the interests of capital and labor identical. True, there is one feature in the articles read yesterday which may require a little modification; it is at least a good subject for mature reflection and consideration before their final adoption; and these articles are presented before the people for this purpose.
The combination of labor and capital in this order will enable us to promote all branches of industry which shall appear, in the judgment of the common Order, to be for the general good. At present, capitalists are loath to engage in any enterprise which does not vouchsafe to them profitable returns. It has been said by some among us that the best argument in favor of cooperation, was large dividends; but this is an argument that appeals only to cupidity and avarice, and is especially acceptable to the man who sees nothing but the God of this world to worship. Large dividends corrupt the morals of a community, just as large speculations and the profit resulting therefrom; for however desirable in a financial point of view to those engaged in them, their tendency is always to intoxicate the brain, and lead those engaged therein to further follies, until they overreach and ruin themselves. Moderation is as valuable in financial affairs as in social ethics, moderation in all speculation and in all business, fair profits for labor, fair dividends for capital, and the use of that capital and labor to promote the greatest good of the greatest number, and not for my own dear self. The selfishness that is limited to our own persons savors of the lower instincts of our natures, and comes not from above.
Objections arise in the minds of some. “Shall we not by entering into this order, surrender our manhood, our personal liberty, and those rights so dear to every human being?” I answer, no, not in the least. We do no more than what all people do in the formation of government, of every kind, or associations for any purpose, whether charitable, religious or social. All organizations, corporations, and business firms agree to surrender certain personal privileges in order to secure mutual advantages. All governments, societies, corporations and firms are founded upon the principle of mutual concessions to secure mutual advantages. Without this there could be no government, no power to arrest and punish criminals and protect the rights of the citizen and the sanctity of home.
The Order proposed before us affords the utmost freedom and liberty. All things shall be done by common consent, and all the Branches of the Order, throughout all the land, are to be organized by the selection of the wisest, best and most experienced persons in their midst, to form their councils, and to direct their business affairs and the labors of the community, for the best possible good of the whole, and not to the individual advantage of a few, who may be schemers or who may have acquired an education by which they are enabled to overreach their fellow men financially.
The grand principle upon which the Gospel of life and salvation is founded and on which Zion is to be built, is brotherly love and good will to man. This was the theme of the angels of God in announcing the birth of the Savior. Hitherto, under our old systems, it has been “every man for himself, and the devil for us all;” but the principle which the Lord proposes is that we should square our lives by a higher and holier one, namely, everyone for the whole and God for us all.
Will this Order benefit the rich? Yes, it will afford security for themselves and families and their capital. It is a mutual insurance institution. Will it afford security and protection to the poor and the honest laborer? Yes, it will lay a foundation for wealth and comfort for them, and their families after them. Is it a free school system? It is a mutual education system. Free? Not to the lazy, vicious and wicked, but it is a mutual education system for the good and industrious, who abide in the Order and fulfill the obligations thereof. Who shall be heirs of the common property? Every child who is born in the Order. Heirs to the whole of it. No, nobody will be heir to the whole of it. To what portion of it will they be heirs? Just what they need. Who shall be the judges? Themselves, if they judge correctly; and if they do not, somebody will judge more correctly for them. “Well, shall I surrender my judgment to anybody else?” Of course, you will; we all agree to that, if it must needs be. But he who judges for himself correctly shall not be judged, but he who is unable to judge himself, but covets everything that he sees, and wishes to scatter and destroy what others are seeking to accumulate and preserve, must have a bit put in his mouth and some, who are more sensible, must handle the reins. This is no agrarian doctrine, to level those who are exalted, down to the mean level of those who are in the mire, but it is the Godlike doctrine of raising those who are of low estate and placing them in a better condition, by teaching them economy, and prudence; it is for the strong to foster and bear the infirmities of the weak, for those who possess skill and ability to accumulate and preserve this world's goods, to use them for the common good, and not merely for their own persons, children and relatives, so as to exalt themselves in pride and vanity over their fellow men, and sink themselves to ruin by worshiping the God of this world. This is beneath the character of those who profess to be the people of God. We have done that long enough, but the word of God to us is to change our front, and to learn to love our neighbor as ourselves and so cultivate the spirit of the Gospel.
As to the minutiae of the workings of the various Branches of this Order, the details of the business and the relations of life, one meeting of this kind would not suffice to tell, nor could the people comprehend it if we were able to tell it; but it will be revealed to us as we pass along, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, and everything necessary will appear in its time and place, and none need be overanxious to pass over the bridge before they reach it. God does not reveal to us everything at once, for our minds are not prepared to comprehend it. Like children we must have experience as we pass along. One thing is sufficient for us to understand, and that is that this Order has made all nations and peoples who have entered into and practiced it prosperous.
If anyone doubts for a moment the success and final triumph of these principles, that doubt is founded only in his own weakness, and in the weaknesses of his fellow men around him, and the selfishness that is in our natures. If we are determined to make it a success there is no power beneath the heavens that can make it a failure. If we engage in it with full purpose of heart, with faith towards God, and seeking to cultivate confidence towards one another, and are outspoken and frank in all our business relations and intercourse with each other, and do all things by common consent, with a just and honest purpose of soul, there is no power that can hinder our succeeding in our undertaking. But if we are determined to be selfish, and seek to build ourselves up on the weaknesses of our fellows, instead of building up the kingdom of our God, we ought to go down, and the sooner the better. For the last dozen years many of this people have been going on in the way that our fathers and the world generally walk in; and instead of building up Zion, have been after their personal and individual interests. Forty years have passed over us as a people during which we have been trying a little to carry on the work of God; but we have been like the wary trout in the stream, we have been nibbling around the hook, but we have never swallowed the bait. Now the hook is placed before us naked, and we are simply asked the question, “Will you take it or not?” “What, are we going to be caught?” Yes, this is the fear—“We are going to be caught by the wily fisherman—we are going to be enslaved. Has not somebody got an eye on our property? Does not somebody wish to have our horses and carriages, our fine houses, our substance, and the property we have gathered together?” Yes, the Lord has an eye on all this, for it belongs to him. Which of us has anything that does not belong to him? Where have we got that which we possess? Who has given us ability to accumulate and preserve? To whom are we accountable for our talents and gifts, as well as our substance? The Lord has his eye upon all this. Is he anxious about our property? No. This anxiety is in our own breasts, and if we have any idols the sooner we put them away the better. The Lord cares nothing about our houses and lands, our goods and chattels, our gold, silver or raiment, for all upon the earth belongs to him, and at the best it is only something that perishes with the using. He requires us to be faithful in the use of it, for he has said, “He that is not faithful with the unrighteous mammon, who shall commit to him the true riches?” True riches relate to eternity; the riches that relate to this life all perish with the using. Our houses, horses, carriages, clothing, and our gold and silver perish with the using, together with our tabernacles. We look to a glorious resurrection, to a new and enduring earth, to riches that are immortal, to the habitations that shall not pass away, to a glory that is beyond the grave, as the only true riches, which the Gospel enjoins us to look after. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all things else shall be added unto you.” They will be added in God's own way, and he wishes to show us a better way, and, in order to deal with us as a kind father does with his children, he proposes to enlighten and instruct us, and he will impart to all of his people who will obey his voice the wisdom that is necessary to make them the richest people on the earth. This is the purpose of the Lord concerning Zion and his people—they are to possess this world's goods in abundance, not to be foolish with them and to destroy themselves and their children, but that they may preserve themselves and their children from falling into the vices and follies of great Babylon. He will raise up in their midst wise counselors to provide for the welfare of the whole.
Will our trading and trafficking with the outside world cease? Of course not. As long as we are in the world, gathering Saints, preaching to the nations and building up Zion, Zion will be as a city set on a hill, which cannot be hid. But the Lord proposes to preserve his people as far as possible from the influences of Babylon, and the transactions outside of the Order will be carried on through the Council of the Order; agents will be appointed by the voice of the Order, that what we bring from abroad may be bought from first hands and in the lowest market, that we may derive the benefits of it, instead of giving the profits to middlemen who are not of us; and what we have for sale we will sell in the best markets, and so enjoy the benefits of our labor, and not by interior competition and underbidding and underselling each other to “scatter our ways to strangers,” as we have done in times past. By this combined effort we shall be able to obtain the full market value of our products—the products of the farm, dairy, orchard, vineyard, the products of the woolen and cotton factory, of our shoe shops, and every mechanical appliance, to enable us to procure all labor-saving machinery, by our combined efforts, which men in their individual capacity are not able to do. We shall also be enabled to start new enterprises, and if they do not pay at first, they are bound to pay in the end, if they are necessary adjuncts to the prosperity of society. Our common fund will nourish these infant establishments, instead of individuals failing and breaking down in their vain efforts to build up new enterprises in a new country, as is often the case now. And if funds are needed from abroad to aid us in any general enterprise, we shall have the combined property and credit of the community as a guarantee to capitalists abroad, instead of individuals mortgaging their inheritances to procure money to carry on individual “wildcat” speculations by which thousands are ruined. If they were operating in a United Order and would submit their enterprises to the candid decision of that Order, many an enterprising man would be saved from foolish ventures and from ruin, and the wise and prudent would receive the necessary encouragement and financial aid, to make their undertakings a success for the benefit of the whole.
Will our merchants be worse off? No, our merchants, those who belong to this Order, will be just as well off as any of the rest of the Order. They will work where they are appointed, go on missions when called, or tan leather, or make hats or wooden shoes, if they are better adapted for that than for standing behind the counter; but if they are best suited to handle the products of the people and to carry on mutual exchanges among ourselves within the Order and with branch Orders and with the outside world, we will appoint them to this labor and service, and hold them to an account of their stewardships, and the results of their transactions go into the common fund. Then they will not be stimulated to avarice, overreaching, lying and deception, to put what they call an honest, but what I call a very dishonest, penny into their pockets. We will endeavor thus, by a union of effort, to take away temptations from our midst to be dishonest, and let the dishonest share the fate of Ananias and Sapphira; but let the virtuous, upright and good be frank and outspoken, and give their sentiments, the witness of the word of truth in their hearts, for the good of the whole. Those who lack business capacity and experience will labor where they can be useful, that the ability of all may be available for the general good.
These are the principles embraced in the instrument we heard read yesterday afternoon. As to these little personal objections that arise in the mind, we shall find that they exist only in the imaginations of our own hearts, arising from our ignorance or a want of proper understanding, and partly from knowing each other too well, and comprehending each other's selfishness and weaknesses; because of this we are afraid to trust each other. The remedy for this is for everyone to set himself to work to better his own condition, first establishing confidence in his own heart between himself and his God, and so deporting himself that he can command the respect and confidence of his brethren and sisters. Every man and every woman should set themselves to do this, and should enter into this Order with a firm determination to do this. Confidence will then soon be restored in our midst. Then every man and every woman will speak the honest sentiments of their hearts, and vote as they feel to do on every question, in the selection of officers and in the transaction of all business, and we will do whatever we do for the general good, according to the light that is in us. Such a people are bound to draw down from the heavens above the revelations of light and truth; they will tap the clouds from above; every man will be a lightning rod to draw electricity from the clouds, in other words, the revelations of light and truth, into their own hearts and minds; they will possess a combined intelligence that will accomplish all they undertake in righteousness, and they will prevail before the Lord and before the world, and will command the respect and honor of the virtuous and good, at home and abroad. Those who refuse to engage in these enterprises, and to enter into the holy Order, will become the unpopular ones; and after we have once succeeded in this effort, we shall marvel and wonder that we did not enter into it before.
We have been over forty years trying to learn these lessons, and all the time putting them off to a future day, waiting for our children to carry them out; but we shall marvel that we did not rise up and carry them out before. Thousands of Saints have been anxiously waiting and might, perhaps, have entered into this before now; but we have been continually throwing new clay into the machine, drawing new materials from abroad and raising new elements at home, and the elements brought from Babylon has brought Babylon with it, and our habits, customs, notions and individuality have been so prominent, that we could not see the benefits of mutual concessions to secure the mutual advantages and benefits of combined labor.
I am aware that some capitalists will object to the idea of drawing only fifty percent of what remains to their credit, if they should conclude to withdraw from the Order. Be this as it may, I can see no principle appertaining to the Gospel and to the building up of Zion, no principle of justice between man and man, which would permit the capitalist today to bring his capital into the Order and surrender it to the custody and care of stout hearts and strong arms to protect and preserve it and to increase it by the erection of factories and machinery and buildings and improvements, by the combined labor of the people, and then all the original capital, together with all the dividends, to be left at the disposal of the few capitalists originally composing the firm, and they be permitted, fifty years hence, to get up and walk off with the whole of it, leaving the great mass of the community, that have grown up from infancy, and preserved and insured and made it valuable, without anything but their daily wages, which they have eaten up as they passed along in supporting themselves and their growing families. I say I see no justice in allowing a few capitalists to draw the whole of their original deposits, together with the whole of the dividends and profits which have been made by the labor of the whole community, and I consider the provision which limits that withdrawal to half the original amount and half the dividends both wise and necessary. It is a question in my mind whether we should, in this Order, recognize the right of capital as above that of labor. This is a point which will bear criticism. But I will pass that over now.
There are many objections which will arise in the minds of the people. The enemy will endeavor to throw every possible objection before our minds; but the more we scan it, and the more we seek to understand the principles of this Order, as set before us in this instrument, the more we shall see the wisdom of God manifest therein, and the revelations of light and truth; the more this spirit goes abroad among the people, the more will their hearts be opened and prepared to receive it. I praise God that he has moved upon the heart of his servant Brigham to call this people to “right about face,” that they may enter in at the strait gate, which may God grant we may be able to do in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday Morning, May 8, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
The United Order of Zion, proposed for our consideration, as will be seen from the remarks that have been made by former speakers, and from the articles which were read yesterday afternoon, is a grand, comprehensive, cooperative system, designed to improve us who enter into it, financially, socially, morally and religiously; it will aid us, as Latter-day Saints, in living our religion, and in building up Zion, and help us, by a combined effort, to cultivate every virtue, to put from us every vice, to conduct ourselves and our children sensibly, and to dispense with childish follies; it will enable us to adopt sensible and discreet fashions and habits of life and style of dress and manners; all of which can be effected by combined efforts, but not easily in our individual capacities. For what man, however good be his desires, can control himself and his family in their habits and manners of life and fashions, without the aid of the surrounding community? What sensible man can hold me or my brethren responsible, in all respects, either for ourselves or our households, unaided by the community and while the community are all working against us? But when the community learn to work together, and are agreed in a common purpose, what is it that they cannot accomplish? Union is strength, and a combination of labor and capital will give us power at home and abroad. Our former cooperative systems in this Territory have accomplished very great good for us, but they have been only combinations of capital; the proposed system embraces labor as well as capital, and it designs to make the interests of capital and labor identical. True, there is one feature in the articles read yesterday which may require a little modification; it is at least a good subject for mature reflection and consideration before their final adoption; and these articles are presented before the people for this purpose.
The combination of labor and capital in this order will enable us to promote all branches of industry which shall appear, in the judgment of the common Order, to be for the general good. At present, capitalists are loath to engage in any enterprise which does not vouchsafe to them profitable returns. It has been said by some among us that the best argument in favor of cooperation, was large dividends; but this is an argument that appeals only to cupidity and avarice, and is especially acceptable to the man who sees nothing but the God of this world to worship. Large dividends corrupt the morals of a community, just as large speculations and the profit resulting therefrom; for however desirable in a financial point of view to those engaged in them, their tendency is always to intoxicate the brain, and lead those engaged therein to further follies, until they overreach and ruin themselves. Moderation is as valuable in financial affairs as in social ethics, moderation in all speculation and in all business, fair profits for labor, fair dividends for capital, and the use of that capital and labor to promote the greatest good of the greatest number, and not for my own dear self. The selfishness that is limited to our own persons savors of the lower instincts of our natures, and comes not from above.
Objections arise in the minds of some. “Shall we not by entering into this order, surrender our manhood, our personal liberty, and those rights so dear to every human being?” I answer, no, not in the least. We do no more than what all people do in the formation of government, of every kind, or associations for any purpose, whether charitable, religious or social. All organizations, corporations, and business firms agree to surrender certain personal privileges in order to secure mutual advantages. All governments, societies, corporations and firms are founded upon the principle of mutual concessions to secure mutual advantages. Without this there could be no government, no power to arrest and punish criminals and protect the rights of the citizen and the sanctity of home.
The Order proposed before us affords the utmost freedom and liberty. All things shall be done by common consent, and all the Branches of the Order, throughout all the land, are to be organized by the selection of the wisest, best and most experienced persons in their midst, to form their councils, and to direct their business affairs and the labors of the community, for the best possible good of the whole, and not to the individual advantage of a few, who may be schemers or who may have acquired an education by which they are enabled to overreach their fellow men financially.
The grand principle upon which the Gospel of life and salvation is founded and on which Zion is to be built, is brotherly love and good will to man. This was the theme of the angels of God in announcing the birth of the Savior. Hitherto, under our old systems, it has been “every man for himself, and the devil for us all;” but the principle which the Lord proposes is that we should square our lives by a higher and holier one, namely, everyone for the whole and God for us all.
Will this Order benefit the rich? Yes, it will afford security for themselves and families and their capital. It is a mutual insurance institution. Will it afford security and protection to the poor and the honest laborer? Yes, it will lay a foundation for wealth and comfort for them, and their families after them. Is it a free school system? It is a mutual education system. Free? Not to the lazy, vicious and wicked, but it is a mutual education system for the good and industrious, who abide in the Order and fulfill the obligations thereof. Who shall be heirs of the common property? Every child who is born in the Order. Heirs to the whole of it. No, nobody will be heir to the whole of it. To what portion of it will they be heirs? Just what they need. Who shall be the judges? Themselves, if they judge correctly; and if they do not, somebody will judge more correctly for them. “Well, shall I surrender my judgment to anybody else?” Of course, you will; we all agree to that, if it must needs be. But he who judges for himself correctly shall not be judged, but he who is unable to judge himself, but covets everything that he sees, and wishes to scatter and destroy what others are seeking to accumulate and preserve, must have a bit put in his mouth and some, who are more sensible, must handle the reins. This is no agrarian doctrine, to level those who are exalted, down to the mean level of those who are in the mire, but it is the Godlike doctrine of raising those who are of low estate and placing them in a better condition, by teaching them economy, and prudence; it is for the strong to foster and bear the infirmities of the weak, for those who possess skill and ability to accumulate and preserve this world's goods, to use them for the common good, and not merely for their own persons, children and relatives, so as to exalt themselves in pride and vanity over their fellow men, and sink themselves to ruin by worshiping the God of this world. This is beneath the character of those who profess to be the people of God. We have done that long enough, but the word of God to us is to change our front, and to learn to love our neighbor as ourselves and so cultivate the spirit of the Gospel.
As to the minutiae of the workings of the various Branches of this Order, the details of the business and the relations of life, one meeting of this kind would not suffice to tell, nor could the people comprehend it if we were able to tell it; but it will be revealed to us as we pass along, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, and everything necessary will appear in its time and place, and none need be overanxious to pass over the bridge before they reach it. God does not reveal to us everything at once, for our minds are not prepared to comprehend it. Like children we must have experience as we pass along. One thing is sufficient for us to understand, and that is that this Order has made all nations and peoples who have entered into and practiced it prosperous.
If anyone doubts for a moment the success and final triumph of these principles, that doubt is founded only in his own weakness, and in the weaknesses of his fellow men around him, and the selfishness that is in our natures. If we are determined to make it a success there is no power beneath the heavens that can make it a failure. If we engage in it with full purpose of heart, with faith towards God, and seeking to cultivate confidence towards one another, and are outspoken and frank in all our business relations and intercourse with each other, and do all things by common consent, with a just and honest purpose of soul, there is no power that can hinder our succeeding in our undertaking. But if we are determined to be selfish, and seek to build ourselves up on the weaknesses of our fellows, instead of building up the kingdom of our God, we ought to go down, and the sooner the better. For the last dozen years many of this people have been going on in the way that our fathers and the world generally walk in; and instead of building up Zion, have been after their personal and individual interests. Forty years have passed over us as a people during which we have been trying a little to carry on the work of God; but we have been like the wary trout in the stream, we have been nibbling around the hook, but we have never swallowed the bait. Now the hook is placed before us naked, and we are simply asked the question, “Will you take it or not?” “What, are we going to be caught?” Yes, this is the fear—“We are going to be caught by the wily fisherman—we are going to be enslaved. Has not somebody got an eye on our property? Does not somebody wish to have our horses and carriages, our fine houses, our substance, and the property we have gathered together?” Yes, the Lord has an eye on all this, for it belongs to him. Which of us has anything that does not belong to him? Where have we got that which we possess? Who has given us ability to accumulate and preserve? To whom are we accountable for our talents and gifts, as well as our substance? The Lord has his eye upon all this. Is he anxious about our property? No. This anxiety is in our own breasts, and if we have any idols the sooner we put them away the better. The Lord cares nothing about our houses and lands, our goods and chattels, our gold, silver or raiment, for all upon the earth belongs to him, and at the best it is only something that perishes with the using. He requires us to be faithful in the use of it, for he has said, “He that is not faithful with the unrighteous mammon, who shall commit to him the true riches?” True riches relate to eternity; the riches that relate to this life all perish with the using. Our houses, horses, carriages, clothing, and our gold and silver perish with the using, together with our tabernacles. We look to a glorious resurrection, to a new and enduring earth, to riches that are immortal, to the habitations that shall not pass away, to a glory that is beyond the grave, as the only true riches, which the Gospel enjoins us to look after. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all things else shall be added unto you.” They will be added in God's own way, and he wishes to show us a better way, and, in order to deal with us as a kind father does with his children, he proposes to enlighten and instruct us, and he will impart to all of his people who will obey his voice the wisdom that is necessary to make them the richest people on the earth. This is the purpose of the Lord concerning Zion and his people—they are to possess this world's goods in abundance, not to be foolish with them and to destroy themselves and their children, but that they may preserve themselves and their children from falling into the vices and follies of great Babylon. He will raise up in their midst wise counselors to provide for the welfare of the whole.
Will our trading and trafficking with the outside world cease? Of course not. As long as we are in the world, gathering Saints, preaching to the nations and building up Zion, Zion will be as a city set on a hill, which cannot be hid. But the Lord proposes to preserve his people as far as possible from the influences of Babylon, and the transactions outside of the Order will be carried on through the Council of the Order; agents will be appointed by the voice of the Order, that what we bring from abroad may be bought from first hands and in the lowest market, that we may derive the benefits of it, instead of giving the profits to middlemen who are not of us; and what we have for sale we will sell in the best markets, and so enjoy the benefits of our labor, and not by interior competition and underbidding and underselling each other to “scatter our ways to strangers,” as we have done in times past. By this combined effort we shall be able to obtain the full market value of our products—the products of the farm, dairy, orchard, vineyard, the products of the woolen and cotton factory, of our shoe shops, and every mechanical appliance, to enable us to procure all labor-saving machinery, by our combined efforts, which men in their individual capacity are not able to do. We shall also be enabled to start new enterprises, and if they do not pay at first, they are bound to pay in the end, if they are necessary adjuncts to the prosperity of society. Our common fund will nourish these infant establishments, instead of individuals failing and breaking down in their vain efforts to build up new enterprises in a new country, as is often the case now. And if funds are needed from abroad to aid us in any general enterprise, we shall have the combined property and credit of the community as a guarantee to capitalists abroad, instead of individuals mortgaging their inheritances to procure money to carry on individual “wildcat” speculations by which thousands are ruined. If they were operating in a United Order and would submit their enterprises to the candid decision of that Order, many an enterprising man would be saved from foolish ventures and from ruin, and the wise and prudent would receive the necessary encouragement and financial aid, to make their undertakings a success for the benefit of the whole.
Will our merchants be worse off? No, our merchants, those who belong to this Order, will be just as well off as any of the rest of the Order. They will work where they are appointed, go on missions when called, or tan leather, or make hats or wooden shoes, if they are better adapted for that than for standing behind the counter; but if they are best suited to handle the products of the people and to carry on mutual exchanges among ourselves within the Order and with branch Orders and with the outside world, we will appoint them to this labor and service, and hold them to an account of their stewardships, and the results of their transactions go into the common fund. Then they will not be stimulated to avarice, overreaching, lying and deception, to put what they call an honest, but what I call a very dishonest, penny into their pockets. We will endeavor thus, by a union of effort, to take away temptations from our midst to be dishonest, and let the dishonest share the fate of Ananias and Sapphira; but let the virtuous, upright and good be frank and outspoken, and give their sentiments, the witness of the word of truth in their hearts, for the good of the whole. Those who lack business capacity and experience will labor where they can be useful, that the ability of all may be available for the general good.
These are the principles embraced in the instrument we heard read yesterday afternoon. As to these little personal objections that arise in the mind, we shall find that they exist only in the imaginations of our own hearts, arising from our ignorance or a want of proper understanding, and partly from knowing each other too well, and comprehending each other's selfishness and weaknesses; because of this we are afraid to trust each other. The remedy for this is for everyone to set himself to work to better his own condition, first establishing confidence in his own heart between himself and his God, and so deporting himself that he can command the respect and confidence of his brethren and sisters. Every man and every woman should set themselves to do this, and should enter into this Order with a firm determination to do this. Confidence will then soon be restored in our midst. Then every man and every woman will speak the honest sentiments of their hearts, and vote as they feel to do on every question, in the selection of officers and in the transaction of all business, and we will do whatever we do for the general good, according to the light that is in us. Such a people are bound to draw down from the heavens above the revelations of light and truth; they will tap the clouds from above; every man will be a lightning rod to draw electricity from the clouds, in other words, the revelations of light and truth, into their own hearts and minds; they will possess a combined intelligence that will accomplish all they undertake in righteousness, and they will prevail before the Lord and before the world, and will command the respect and honor of the virtuous and good, at home and abroad. Those who refuse to engage in these enterprises, and to enter into the holy Order, will become the unpopular ones; and after we have once succeeded in this effort, we shall marvel and wonder that we did not enter into it before.
We have been over forty years trying to learn these lessons, and all the time putting them off to a future day, waiting for our children to carry them out; but we shall marvel that we did not rise up and carry them out before. Thousands of Saints have been anxiously waiting and might, perhaps, have entered into this before now; but we have been continually throwing new clay into the machine, drawing new materials from abroad and raising new elements at home, and the elements brought from Babylon has brought Babylon with it, and our habits, customs, notions and individuality have been so prominent, that we could not see the benefits of mutual concessions to secure the mutual advantages and benefits of combined labor.
I am aware that some capitalists will object to the idea of drawing only fifty percent of what remains to their credit, if they should conclude to withdraw from the Order. Be this as it may, I can see no principle appertaining to the Gospel and to the building up of Zion, no principle of justice between man and man, which would permit the capitalist today to bring his capital into the Order and surrender it to the custody and care of stout hearts and strong arms to protect and preserve it and to increase it by the erection of factories and machinery and buildings and improvements, by the combined labor of the people, and then all the original capital, together with all the dividends, to be left at the disposal of the few capitalists originally composing the firm, and they be permitted, fifty years hence, to get up and walk off with the whole of it, leaving the great mass of the community, that have grown up from infancy, and preserved and insured and made it valuable, without anything but their daily wages, which they have eaten up as they passed along in supporting themselves and their growing families. I say I see no justice in allowing a few capitalists to draw the whole of their original deposits, together with the whole of the dividends and profits which have been made by the labor of the whole community, and I consider the provision which limits that withdrawal to half the original amount and half the dividends both wise and necessary. It is a question in my mind whether we should, in this Order, recognize the right of capital as above that of labor. This is a point which will bear criticism. But I will pass that over now.
There are many objections which will arise in the minds of the people. The enemy will endeavor to throw every possible objection before our minds; but the more we scan it, and the more we seek to understand the principles of this Order, as set before us in this instrument, the more we shall see the wisdom of God manifest therein, and the revelations of light and truth; the more this spirit goes abroad among the people, the more will their hearts be opened and prepared to receive it. I praise God that he has moved upon the heart of his servant Brigham to call this people to “right about face,” that they may enter in at the strait gate, which may God grant we may be able to do in the name of Jesus. Amen.
President Joseph Young
said he dared not tax his lungs too much in endeavoring to throw his voice to the extremity of the building so as to make himself heard. He most heartily endorsed the remarks of the speakers on the text given yesterday morning by President Brigham Young. We were not required to surrender our agency in the United Order, because God could not hold us responsible for that which was wrested from us. We should be willing to concede much, however, for the general benefit of our brethren and sisters.
The speaker then dwelt upon the object of the Creator in causing his children to pass through an earthly probation, showing that it was to prepare them for a higher and nobler state of being, and spoke upon the necessity of each seeking to carry out the object of his existence, and lay a foundation for the blessings of eternity. He devoted the latter part of his discourse to pointing out the necessity for and the character of the United Order.
said he dared not tax his lungs too much in endeavoring to throw his voice to the extremity of the building so as to make himself heard. He most heartily endorsed the remarks of the speakers on the text given yesterday morning by President Brigham Young. We were not required to surrender our agency in the United Order, because God could not hold us responsible for that which was wrested from us. We should be willing to concede much, however, for the general benefit of our brethren and sisters.
The speaker then dwelt upon the object of the Creator in causing his children to pass through an earthly probation, showing that it was to prepare them for a higher and nobler state of being, and spoke upon the necessity of each seeking to carry out the object of his existence, and lay a foundation for the blessings of eternity. He devoted the latter part of his discourse to pointing out the necessity for and the character of the United Order.
President Brigham Young
made a few remarks on the free agency of man.
Adjourned till 2 p.m.
The choir sang, Praise God in His Holiness.
Benediction by Elder C. C. Rich.
made a few remarks on the free agency of man.
Adjourned till 2 p.m.
The choir sang, Praise God in His Holiness.
Benediction by Elder C. C. Rich.
SECOND DAY.
Afternoon, May 8.
Singing by the choir of: Praise ye the Lord, my heart shall join, In work so pleasant, so divine.
Prayer by Elder Brigham Young, Jr.
The choir sang: Sweet is the peace the gospel brings To seeking minds, and true.
Afternoon, May 8.
Singing by the choir of: Praise ye the Lord, my heart shall join, In work so pleasant, so divine.
Prayer by Elder Brigham Young, Jr.
The choir sang: Sweet is the peace the gospel brings To seeking minds, and true.
President George A. Smith
read section twelve of a revelation given to Joseph Smith, Jan. 19th, 1841, wherein the Lord told the Saints that certain ordinances must be attended to in a temple reared and dedicated for the purpose. The revelation was given in connection with the Nauvoo Temple. The same revelation informed us that if a people should go to work with all their hearts to do a work and their enemies came upon them and hindered them, the Lord would not require that work of them, and He would visit the enemies of his Saints with his indignation and judgments. The speaker then related circumstances connected with the building of the Nauvoo Temple, how the Saints completed the structure, and of their being driven from their homes. The revelation did not, however, end with the completion of the Nauvoo Temple, for God’s people were always commanded to bring a holy house to the Lord. It appeared that, when energetic efforts were put forth for the building of the Temple in this city, the energies of the Saints almost invariably stirred up some persecution against them.
President Smith then described what had been done in the matter of forwarding the work on the Temple, and showed the absolute necessity of the work being prosecuted vigorously, and of each Latter-day Saint aiding liberally in forwarding it. He next detailed what had been done in the building of the St. George Temple. It was absolutely necessary that additional means should be obtained to continue the work on both buildings at the same ratio it had been progressing at for some time past. The brethren must either make a united effort to push forward the work, or it would be necessary to discharge a number of the public hands. The speaker did not believe that the Lord would justify the Saints if they were slow in building those Temples, and those who would contribute to that most excellent work would be blessed, for the people of God were always commanded to build houses to his holy name.
The remarks of President Smith were mainly devoted to the necessity of paying tithing, and contributing in every possible way to the building up of Zion, and were very pointed and instructive.
read section twelve of a revelation given to Joseph Smith, Jan. 19th, 1841, wherein the Lord told the Saints that certain ordinances must be attended to in a temple reared and dedicated for the purpose. The revelation was given in connection with the Nauvoo Temple. The same revelation informed us that if a people should go to work with all their hearts to do a work and their enemies came upon them and hindered them, the Lord would not require that work of them, and He would visit the enemies of his Saints with his indignation and judgments. The speaker then related circumstances connected with the building of the Nauvoo Temple, how the Saints completed the structure, and of their being driven from their homes. The revelation did not, however, end with the completion of the Nauvoo Temple, for God’s people were always commanded to bring a holy house to the Lord. It appeared that, when energetic efforts were put forth for the building of the Temple in this city, the energies of the Saints almost invariably stirred up some persecution against them.
President Smith then described what had been done in the matter of forwarding the work on the Temple, and showed the absolute necessity of the work being prosecuted vigorously, and of each Latter-day Saint aiding liberally in forwarding it. He next detailed what had been done in the building of the St. George Temple. It was absolutely necessary that additional means should be obtained to continue the work on both buildings at the same ratio it had been progressing at for some time past. The brethren must either make a united effort to push forward the work, or it would be necessary to discharge a number of the public hands. The speaker did not believe that the Lord would justify the Saints if they were slow in building those Temples, and those who would contribute to that most excellent work would be blessed, for the people of God were always commanded to build houses to his holy name.
The remarks of President Smith were mainly devoted to the necessity of paying tithing, and contributing in every possible way to the building up of Zion, and were very pointed and instructive.
President D. H. Wells
said he had observed that the progress of the work on the Temple in this City had not been diminished by the work that had been done on the St. George building. After making a few remarks on the building of Temples, he dwelt upon the principles of the United Order. President Young had talked about and urged the necessity of a united organization among the Saints for over twenty years. Notwithstanding the teaching we had heard we had gradually become less self-sustaining, but the people would go into the United Order. It would prove the turning point to unite us and make us self-sustaining. The discourse of President Wells was of an exceedingly practical character, and was mostly devoted to the subject of political and domestic economy, and plainly indicated the course by the adoption of which any people or community could become happy, peaceful and prosperous. A synopsis could not convey a correct conception of the speaker’s remarks.
said he had observed that the progress of the work on the Temple in this City had not been diminished by the work that had been done on the St. George building. After making a few remarks on the building of Temples, he dwelt upon the principles of the United Order. President Young had talked about and urged the necessity of a united organization among the Saints for over twenty years. Notwithstanding the teaching we had heard we had gradually become less self-sustaining, but the people would go into the United Order. It would prove the turning point to unite us and make us self-sustaining. The discourse of President Wells was of an exceedingly practical character, and was mostly devoted to the subject of political and domestic economy, and plainly indicated the course by the adoption of which any people or community could become happy, peaceful and prosperous. A synopsis could not convey a correct conception of the speaker’s remarks.
President George A. Smith
said that about one hundred volunteers were wanted, to go to St. George to help to put up the Temple walls.
Adjourned till Saturday at 10 a.m.
The choir sang: Daughter of Zion.
Benediction by Elder Lorenzo Snow.
said that about one hundred volunteers were wanted, to go to St. George to help to put up the Temple walls.
Adjourned till Saturday at 10 a.m.
The choir sang: Daughter of Zion.
Benediction by Elder Lorenzo Snow.
THIRD DAY.
Saturday Morning, May 9th.
Singing by the choir of—When earth in bondage long had lain, And darkness o’er the nations reigned.
Opening prayer by Elder David McKenzie.
With joy, we own thy servants, Lord, Thy ministers below; was sung by the choir.
Saturday Morning, May 9th.
Singing by the choir of—When earth in bondage long had lain, And darkness o’er the nations reigned.
Opening prayer by Elder David McKenzie.
With joy, we own thy servants, Lord, Thy ministers below; was sung by the choir.
Elder Charles C. Rich
said he had had the privilege of attending many Conferences of the Church, and was certain that when the people came together in that capacity, the will of the Lord was manifested to them. The principles leading to the unity of the Saints, laid before us at the present Conference, were not new, but had been measurably taught us since the organization of the Church. The United Order would yet prove the greatest blessing that could be imagined. It incorporated Godlike principles, enabling individuals not only to labor for the benefit of themselves, but also for the good of others. When Jesus should visit us, he would not look upon us as high and low, rich and poor, but we would be one.
Elder Rich continued, at some length, on the necessity of the Saints practising the principles of self-government, that they might not be overcome by temptations, and kindred subjects.
said he had had the privilege of attending many Conferences of the Church, and was certain that when the people came together in that capacity, the will of the Lord was manifested to them. The principles leading to the unity of the Saints, laid before us at the present Conference, were not new, but had been measurably taught us since the organization of the Church. The United Order would yet prove the greatest blessing that could be imagined. It incorporated Godlike principles, enabling individuals not only to labor for the benefit of themselves, but also for the good of others. When Jesus should visit us, he would not look upon us as high and low, rich and poor, but we would be one.
Elder Rich continued, at some length, on the necessity of the Saints practising the principles of self-government, that they might not be overcome by temptations, and kindred subjects.
Elder David McKenzie
presented the authorities of the Church to the Conference as follows, the vote to sustain them being unanimous--
Brigham Young, Prophet, Seer and Revelator, and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.
George A. Smith and Daniel H. Wells, counsellors to President Brigham Young.
Lorenzo Snow, Brigham Young, Jr., Albert Carrington, John W. Young, and George Q. Cannon, Assistant Counsellors to President Brigham Young.
Orson Hyde, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Orson Pratt, Sen., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., Joseph F. Smith and Albert Carrington, members of said quorum.
John Smith, Patriarch of the Church.
George B. Wallace, President of this stake of Zion, and William H. Folsom and John T. Caine his counsellors.
William Eddington, Howard O. Spencer, Thomas E. Jeremy, Joseph L. Barfoot, John H. Rumell, William Thorn, Miner G. Atwood, Dimick B. Huntington, Theodore McKean, Hosea Stout, Thomas Williams, Robert F. Neslen, Milando Pratt, D. McKenzie, C. R. Savage, J. R. Winder, A. C. Pyper, John Sharp, Jr., Geo. J. Taylor, Geo. B. Spencer, Henry Dinwoodey, Millen Atwood, A. M. Cannon, Henry P. Richards, Joseph Horne, Ernest Young, Andrew W. Winberg and George Nebeker, members of the High Council.
Elias Smith [This is clearly a mistake. It should be Joseph Young, Sen. Elias Smith is the President of the High Priests Quorum], President of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies, and Levi W. Hancock, Henry Herriman, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, Jacob Gates and John Van Cott, members of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies.
Benjamin L. Peart, President of the Elders’ quorum; Edward Davis and Abinadi Pratt, his Counselors.
Edward Hunter, Presiding Bishop; Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little, his counselors.
Samuel G. Ladd, President of the Priests’ Quorum; Wm. McLachlan and James Latham, his counselors.
Adam Spiers, President of the Teachers’ Quorum; Martin Lenzi and Henry I. Doremus, his counselors.
James Leach, President of the Deacons’ Quorum; John H. Picknell and Thomas C. Jones, his counselors.
George A. Smith, Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and John Sharp, John L. Smith, Le Grand Young, Elijah F. Sheets, Joseph F. Smith, Moses Thatcher, John Van Cott, Amos M. Musser, James P. Freeze, F. A. Mitchell, Thomas Taylor, as his assistants.
Albert Carrington, President of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund for gathering the poor.
Truman O. Angell, Architect for the Church.
Orson Pratt, Historian and General Church Recorder, and Wilford Woodruff, his assistant.
presented the authorities of the Church to the Conference as follows, the vote to sustain them being unanimous--
Brigham Young, Prophet, Seer and Revelator, and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.
George A. Smith and Daniel H. Wells, counsellors to President Brigham Young.
Lorenzo Snow, Brigham Young, Jr., Albert Carrington, John W. Young, and George Q. Cannon, Assistant Counsellors to President Brigham Young.
Orson Hyde, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Orson Pratt, Sen., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., Joseph F. Smith and Albert Carrington, members of said quorum.
John Smith, Patriarch of the Church.
George B. Wallace, President of this stake of Zion, and William H. Folsom and John T. Caine his counsellors.
William Eddington, Howard O. Spencer, Thomas E. Jeremy, Joseph L. Barfoot, John H. Rumell, William Thorn, Miner G. Atwood, Dimick B. Huntington, Theodore McKean, Hosea Stout, Thomas Williams, Robert F. Neslen, Milando Pratt, D. McKenzie, C. R. Savage, J. R. Winder, A. C. Pyper, John Sharp, Jr., Geo. J. Taylor, Geo. B. Spencer, Henry Dinwoodey, Millen Atwood, A. M. Cannon, Henry P. Richards, Joseph Horne, Ernest Young, Andrew W. Winberg and George Nebeker, members of the High Council.
Elias Smith [This is clearly a mistake. It should be Joseph Young, Sen. Elias Smith is the President of the High Priests Quorum], President of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies, and Levi W. Hancock, Henry Herriman, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, Jacob Gates and John Van Cott, members of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies.
Benjamin L. Peart, President of the Elders’ quorum; Edward Davis and Abinadi Pratt, his Counselors.
Edward Hunter, Presiding Bishop; Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little, his counselors.
Samuel G. Ladd, President of the Priests’ Quorum; Wm. McLachlan and James Latham, his counselors.
Adam Spiers, President of the Teachers’ Quorum; Martin Lenzi and Henry I. Doremus, his counselors.
James Leach, President of the Deacons’ Quorum; John H. Picknell and Thomas C. Jones, his counselors.
George A. Smith, Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and John Sharp, John L. Smith, Le Grand Young, Elijah F. Sheets, Joseph F. Smith, Moses Thatcher, John Van Cott, Amos M. Musser, James P. Freeze, F. A. Mitchell, Thomas Taylor, as his assistants.
Albert Carrington, President of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund for gathering the poor.
Truman O. Angell, Architect for the Church.
Orson Pratt, Historian and General Church Recorder, and Wilford Woodruff, his assistant.
Elder Franklin D. Richards
addressed the congregation. It appeared to him that the Latter-day Saints could have but one view of the principles prominently brought before their notice during the present Conference. There was no evading the fact that a unity of interests, temporal and spiritual, had always been accepted as a portion of our faith, if not fully of our practice. One powerful evidence of the time having come to establish the United Order was the readiness with which the people accepted it. Twelve hundred in Ogden had signified their willingness to become identified with the movement by giving their names. One aged brother who came forward, said he thanked God that the time had come when he had the privilege of subscribing to a system that he had endeavored to subscribe to and live in nearly forty years ago. The speaker could offer no objections to the principles advanced. He knew that the principles were correct. Surely none could fail to see the necessity of a united movement among the Saints; it was so apparent as to be almost self-evident.
Elder Richards elaborated upon the benefits that would be derived from the Saints organizing into a grand co-operative community, that they might become one, and be a great power in the earth.
addressed the congregation. It appeared to him that the Latter-day Saints could have but one view of the principles prominently brought before their notice during the present Conference. There was no evading the fact that a unity of interests, temporal and spiritual, had always been accepted as a portion of our faith, if not fully of our practice. One powerful evidence of the time having come to establish the United Order was the readiness with which the people accepted it. Twelve hundred in Ogden had signified their willingness to become identified with the movement by giving their names. One aged brother who came forward, said he thanked God that the time had come when he had the privilege of subscribing to a system that he had endeavored to subscribe to and live in nearly forty years ago. The speaker could offer no objections to the principles advanced. He knew that the principles were correct. Surely none could fail to see the necessity of a united movement among the Saints; it was so apparent as to be almost self-evident.
Elder Richards elaborated upon the benefits that would be derived from the Saints organizing into a grand co-operative community, that they might become one, and be a great power in the earth.
Elder David McKenzie
was the next speaker. He delighted to reflect upon the important subject, which had been prominently brought forward at this Conference. The United Order was an association for commercial, manufacturing and agricultural purposes. It was a copartnership that we were entering into, and we drew the necessary inspiration from our religion to guide us in all the affairs of life. The Lord told Joseph Smith that none of the sects were in the right path, but that He would shortly commence a marvellous work in the earth. If so-called Christianity was wrong, what could be expected of the civilization based upon it? The answer to this was plain to all who would examine the present condition of society.
The speaker then showed how, under the proposed condition of things, the people would be educated by a means superior to any other that could be devised. The next indication of the truthfulness of a system to the inspiration of the Lord was the howlings and revlilings of the wicked. The great united movement would be inaugurated and would succeed. The people knew the voice of the good shepherd and they would follow it. The matter was not at present to be made a test of fellowship, and there were some probably who could not see it, but he expected that such would eventually be glad to fall into the ranks.
Elder McKenzie then spoke of the value of unity, showing that there was scarcely any limit to what could be accomplished by the Latter-day Saints, were they fully bound together on that principle.
was the next speaker. He delighted to reflect upon the important subject, which had been prominently brought forward at this Conference. The United Order was an association for commercial, manufacturing and agricultural purposes. It was a copartnership that we were entering into, and we drew the necessary inspiration from our religion to guide us in all the affairs of life. The Lord told Joseph Smith that none of the sects were in the right path, but that He would shortly commence a marvellous work in the earth. If so-called Christianity was wrong, what could be expected of the civilization based upon it? The answer to this was plain to all who would examine the present condition of society.
The speaker then showed how, under the proposed condition of things, the people would be educated by a means superior to any other that could be devised. The next indication of the truthfulness of a system to the inspiration of the Lord was the howlings and revlilings of the wicked. The great united movement would be inaugurated and would succeed. The people knew the voice of the good shepherd and they would follow it. The matter was not at present to be made a test of fellowship, and there were some probably who could not see it, but he expected that such would eventually be glad to fall into the ranks.
Elder McKenzie then spoke of the value of unity, showing that there was scarcely any limit to what could be accomplished by the Latter-day Saints, were they fully bound together on that principle.
President Brigham Young
announced that the people would be organized into a co-operative or united system at the afternoon meeting.
Adjourned till 2 p.m.
The choir sang—O! praise the Lord.
Benediction by Elder John Taylor.
announced that the people would be organized into a co-operative or united system at the afternoon meeting.
Adjourned till 2 p.m.
The choir sang—O! praise the Lord.
Benediction by Elder John Taylor.
THIRD DAY
Saturday Afternoon, May 9.
We’re not ashamed to own our Lord And worship him on Earth; was sung by the choir.
Prayer by Elder Brigham Young, Jr.
The choir sang: Come, all ye Saints who dwell on earth, Your cheerful voices raise.
Elder George Goddard was elected clerk of the Conference.
Saturday Afternoon, May 9.
We’re not ashamed to own our Lord And worship him on Earth; was sung by the choir.
Prayer by Elder Brigham Young, Jr.
The choir sang: Come, all ye Saints who dwell on earth, Your cheerful voices raise.
Elder George Goddard was elected clerk of the Conference.
President Brigham Young
announced that it was proposed to organize the Latter-day Saints, in Conference assembled, into the United Order of Zion, and then made some instructive remarks on the subject of education, the comprehensiveness of the gospel, and other important subjects.
The organization of the United Order was then effected, by the election of the following officers, by the unanimous vote of the Saints in the Conference assembled--
President: of the United Order in all the World wherever established--Brigham Young.
First Vice-President—George A. Smith.
Second Vice-President—Daniel H. Wells.
Assistant Vice-Presidents—Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Sen., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., Joseph F. Smith, and Albert Carrington.
Secretary—David McKenzie.
Assistant Secretaries—Geo. Goddard, D. O. Calder, P. A. Schettler, James Jack, and J. T. Caine.
General Bookkeeper—T. W. Ellerbeck.
Treasurer—G. A. Smith.
Assistant Treasurer—Bishop E. Hunter.
Board of Directors—H. S. Eldredge, John Sharp, Feramorz Little, Moses Thatcher, John Van Cott, James P. Freeze, Henry Dimwoodey, Thomas Taylor, and E. F. Sheets.
Elder David McKenzie presented the names of the foregoing named brethren to the Conference to be voted upon.
announced that it was proposed to organize the Latter-day Saints, in Conference assembled, into the United Order of Zion, and then made some instructive remarks on the subject of education, the comprehensiveness of the gospel, and other important subjects.
The organization of the United Order was then effected, by the election of the following officers, by the unanimous vote of the Saints in the Conference assembled--
President: of the United Order in all the World wherever established--Brigham Young.
First Vice-President—George A. Smith.
Second Vice-President—Daniel H. Wells.
Assistant Vice-Presidents—Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Sen., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., Joseph F. Smith, and Albert Carrington.
Secretary—David McKenzie.
Assistant Secretaries—Geo. Goddard, D. O. Calder, P. A. Schettler, James Jack, and J. T. Caine.
General Bookkeeper—T. W. Ellerbeck.
Treasurer—G. A. Smith.
Assistant Treasurer—Bishop E. Hunter.
Board of Directors—H. S. Eldredge, John Sharp, Feramorz Little, Moses Thatcher, John Van Cott, James P. Freeze, Henry Dimwoodey, Thomas Taylor, and E. F. Sheets.
Elder David McKenzie presented the names of the foregoing named brethren to the Conference to be voted upon.
President Brigham Young
stated that those elected presidents of branches of the Order in the various wards should be added to the General Board of Directors, and if needed, other branch officers and other brethren would also be added to it.
It was intended that the affairs of the Order would be conducted in such a strictly business-like manner that an exhibit of the financial condition of any department of it could be given at any time, when desired.
The President then related some circumstances connected with the early history of the settlement of this Territory, and concluded with some timely, practical and instructive remarks bearing upon the United Order.
stated that those elected presidents of branches of the Order in the various wards should be added to the General Board of Directors, and if needed, other branch officers and other brethren would also be added to it.
It was intended that the affairs of the Order would be conducted in such a strictly business-like manner that an exhibit of the financial condition of any department of it could be given at any time, when desired.
The President then related some circumstances connected with the early history of the settlement of this Territory, and concluded with some timely, practical and instructive remarks bearing upon the United Order.
Elder David McKenzie
presented the names of the following brethren, who had been called to go on missions, and the saints voted unanimously to sustain them:
Charles Hall, of Kanosh, Millard Co., to the State of Maine.
John Neff, Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., to Illinois and other States.
For England.—Ernest Young, of Salt Lake City; Brigham Young, 3rd, Richfield, Sevier Co.; John Henry Smith; Bedson Eardley, of Salt Lake City; Alma L. Smith, Coalville, Summit Co.; Baldwin H. Watt, Kanosh, Millard Co.; Wm. Hodges, Lake Town, Rich Co.
For Scotland.—Peter Sinclair, Salt Lake City.
For Wales.—Thomas F. Thomas, 20th Ward, S. L. City; Miles Williams, 17th Ward, S. L. City; William Lloyd, 15th Ward, S. L. City.
For Swiss and German Missions—John Ulrich Stucki, Paris, Oneida Co., Idaho; John Jacob Walser, Payson, Utah Co.: Frederick Thurer, Providence, Cache Co.
For Denmark.—Peter Hansen, Huntsville
presented the names of the following brethren, who had been called to go on missions, and the saints voted unanimously to sustain them:
Charles Hall, of Kanosh, Millard Co., to the State of Maine.
John Neff, Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., to Illinois and other States.
For England.—Ernest Young, of Salt Lake City; Brigham Young, 3rd, Richfield, Sevier Co.; John Henry Smith; Bedson Eardley, of Salt Lake City; Alma L. Smith, Coalville, Summit Co.; Baldwin H. Watt, Kanosh, Millard Co.; Wm. Hodges, Lake Town, Rich Co.
For Scotland.—Peter Sinclair, Salt Lake City.
For Wales.—Thomas F. Thomas, 20th Ward, S. L. City; Miles Williams, 17th Ward, S. L. City; William Lloyd, 15th Ward, S. L. City.
For Swiss and German Missions—John Ulrich Stucki, Paris, Oneida Co., Idaho; John Jacob Walser, Payson, Utah Co.: Frederick Thurer, Providence, Cache Co.
For Denmark.—Peter Hansen, Huntsville
Elder Erastus Snow
made the following remarks:
I have a few reflections in relation to our schools throughout this Territory. The minds of the young are like a sheet of white paper, they will receive any impression that is made upon them. Our children are our heritage from God, and our duty, as Latter-day Saints, is to teach them the fear of God, and to educate them in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in every truth, teaching them faith towards God, and that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Fathers and mothers are responsible, in this respect, for their children. Mothers are their first teachers, and every mother should teach her children to pray. Every father and mother should see to it that the early training and education of their children are not neglected in the family circle, by the fireside; and as they grow up and begin to move out and mingle with the community, parents should know the company they keep, and see to it that they go not with the unbelieving, profane or corrupt. And when the time comes to send them from the parental roof and from the care of the mother, to prosecute their studies, it is the duty of parents to see that they are not placed under the influence of persons, male or female, who are unrighteous, who do not pray, who do not exercise faith in God, who do not believe in his revelations, and who do not seek to strengthen, in the hearts of the young, faith towards God, and sincere devotion to him; and all who neglect this most obvious duty will, sooner or later, reap the fruit of their evil sowing and neglect. Nor should we, through cupidity or a pretense that we are unable properly to provide for our children, send them to schools where, we have every reason to believe, every opportunity will be used to poison their youthful minds concerning the testimony of Jesus and the holy religion we have embraced.
I honor and respect all men in the enjoyment of their religious rights, and in their religious views, feelings and faith. It has been my custom, from my youth, to honor, respect, and reverence every class of religionists in the world; no matter how ridiculous some of their ideas or practices might seem to be, if they were sacred in the minds and feelings of their devotees I honored and respected them, knowing that this devout feeling in the human heart is the foundation of all true religion. While I would labor to correct error I would never trifle with that which was sacred in the hearts and feelings of my fellowmen. I can honor and respect clergy men, teachers and religionists of every class who are in our midst for legitimate business, and who mind their own business, and have sense enough to let other people’s business alone. But there are persons who come among us, as avowed missionaries, not to preach the gospel of the Son of God for the salvation of men, but simply to be tools of corrupt persons and those who hate God and his word, to marshal every element of discontent and to consolidate them in opposition to God and his Kingdom; who set themselves up for this express purpose, and then go to the Eastern States to lecture on “Mormonism” and the “Mormons,” and tell the most abominable lies that ever issued out of the mouths of mortal men, misrepresenting us in every particular, and circulating every exploded lie ever originated in the bowels of hell concerning us. They appeal to the sympathies of the ignorant and prejudiced to raise money to support them, sometimes in preying upon our wives and children, and to establish schools in our midst for this express purpose. And occasionally they offer our children free schooling with the money contributed as the reward of their lies and infamous misrepresentations of this people. Will the elders of Israel say they can not school their children unless they place them in the care of such infernal hypocrites, liars and whoremongers? I say, God forbid. Will we make it a test of fellowship? What fellowship have such elders of Israel with God? They are ignorant. I would that they might learn righteousness.
Let us establish and maintain good schools in which to educate our children; and let parents wake up from that apathy with which the minds of many are beclouded. And if we have any bishops or trustees who have not the revelations of the Holy Spirit enough to discern the spirits of men and women whom they wish to employ as teachers in their schools, let them humble themselves and repent of their sins until the Holy Ghost enlightens them sufficiently to enable them to select men and women to place in charge of our children, who, instead of sowing the seeds of infidelity and damnation in their hearts, will lead them in the way of life. We have fed and sustained men in this city, and they have been considered among our best school teachers, and almost all pupils who have been under their tuition a few years have turned out infidels. There are still men of this class employed in our schools in this and other cities in the Territory. They are enemies of righteousness, and they are leading away the hearts of the innocent and unsuspecting.
Say some, “Oh, we must cultivate science.” What has science to do with this? Science and every true principle pertaining to the heavens and the earth belong to God and his people. Infidelity is not science; it is the absence or opposite of science; it is a lack of capacity to comprehend the great Ruler of the universe, who has established all the immutable laws made manifest in science, whether it be in the heavens or on the earth.
Away, then, with those who have no faith in God, who cannot ask his blessing on their efforts, and who do not set the fear of God before the eyes of children. My advice to every soul in Israel in all the land, who has a son or a daughter, is, if you do not know that they are under the custody and care of praying, believing, devout teachers, take them away and teach them at home. Amen.
made the following remarks:
I have a few reflections in relation to our schools throughout this Territory. The minds of the young are like a sheet of white paper, they will receive any impression that is made upon them. Our children are our heritage from God, and our duty, as Latter-day Saints, is to teach them the fear of God, and to educate them in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in every truth, teaching them faith towards God, and that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Fathers and mothers are responsible, in this respect, for their children. Mothers are their first teachers, and every mother should teach her children to pray. Every father and mother should see to it that the early training and education of their children are not neglected in the family circle, by the fireside; and as they grow up and begin to move out and mingle with the community, parents should know the company they keep, and see to it that they go not with the unbelieving, profane or corrupt. And when the time comes to send them from the parental roof and from the care of the mother, to prosecute their studies, it is the duty of parents to see that they are not placed under the influence of persons, male or female, who are unrighteous, who do not pray, who do not exercise faith in God, who do not believe in his revelations, and who do not seek to strengthen, in the hearts of the young, faith towards God, and sincere devotion to him; and all who neglect this most obvious duty will, sooner or later, reap the fruit of their evil sowing and neglect. Nor should we, through cupidity or a pretense that we are unable properly to provide for our children, send them to schools where, we have every reason to believe, every opportunity will be used to poison their youthful minds concerning the testimony of Jesus and the holy religion we have embraced.
I honor and respect all men in the enjoyment of their religious rights, and in their religious views, feelings and faith. It has been my custom, from my youth, to honor, respect, and reverence every class of religionists in the world; no matter how ridiculous some of their ideas or practices might seem to be, if they were sacred in the minds and feelings of their devotees I honored and respected them, knowing that this devout feeling in the human heart is the foundation of all true religion. While I would labor to correct error I would never trifle with that which was sacred in the hearts and feelings of my fellowmen. I can honor and respect clergy men, teachers and religionists of every class who are in our midst for legitimate business, and who mind their own business, and have sense enough to let other people’s business alone. But there are persons who come among us, as avowed missionaries, not to preach the gospel of the Son of God for the salvation of men, but simply to be tools of corrupt persons and those who hate God and his word, to marshal every element of discontent and to consolidate them in opposition to God and his Kingdom; who set themselves up for this express purpose, and then go to the Eastern States to lecture on “Mormonism” and the “Mormons,” and tell the most abominable lies that ever issued out of the mouths of mortal men, misrepresenting us in every particular, and circulating every exploded lie ever originated in the bowels of hell concerning us. They appeal to the sympathies of the ignorant and prejudiced to raise money to support them, sometimes in preying upon our wives and children, and to establish schools in our midst for this express purpose. And occasionally they offer our children free schooling with the money contributed as the reward of their lies and infamous misrepresentations of this people. Will the elders of Israel say they can not school their children unless they place them in the care of such infernal hypocrites, liars and whoremongers? I say, God forbid. Will we make it a test of fellowship? What fellowship have such elders of Israel with God? They are ignorant. I would that they might learn righteousness.
Let us establish and maintain good schools in which to educate our children; and let parents wake up from that apathy with which the minds of many are beclouded. And if we have any bishops or trustees who have not the revelations of the Holy Spirit enough to discern the spirits of men and women whom they wish to employ as teachers in their schools, let them humble themselves and repent of their sins until the Holy Ghost enlightens them sufficiently to enable them to select men and women to place in charge of our children, who, instead of sowing the seeds of infidelity and damnation in their hearts, will lead them in the way of life. We have fed and sustained men in this city, and they have been considered among our best school teachers, and almost all pupils who have been under their tuition a few years have turned out infidels. There are still men of this class employed in our schools in this and other cities in the Territory. They are enemies of righteousness, and they are leading away the hearts of the innocent and unsuspecting.
Say some, “Oh, we must cultivate science.” What has science to do with this? Science and every true principle pertaining to the heavens and the earth belong to God and his people. Infidelity is not science; it is the absence or opposite of science; it is a lack of capacity to comprehend the great Ruler of the universe, who has established all the immutable laws made manifest in science, whether it be in the heavens or on the earth.
Away, then, with those who have no faith in God, who cannot ask his blessing on their efforts, and who do not set the fear of God before the eyes of children. My advice to every soul in Israel in all the land, who has a son or a daughter, is, if you do not know that they are under the custody and care of praying, believing, devout teachers, take them away and teach them at home. Amen.
Elder John Taylor
asked for a show of hands to see who were willing to be identified with the United Order. A forest of hands went up.
asked for a show of hands to see who were willing to be identified with the United Order. A forest of hands went up.
President Geo. A. Smith
reminded those who held up their hands as a signification that they were willing to identify themselves with the United Order, that the act was of the nature of a covenant, and that he who put his hand to the plow and then turned back was not worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. The object was to build up Zion and become one, that the Savior might deign to visit us.
Adjourned till to-morrow at 10 a.m.
The choir sang: Awake! put on thy strength, O Zion.
Benediction by Elder Chas. C. Rich.
reminded those who held up their hands as a signification that they were willing to identify themselves with the United Order, that the act was of the nature of a covenant, and that he who put his hand to the plow and then turned back was not worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. The object was to build up Zion and become one, that the Savior might deign to visit us.
Adjourned till to-morrow at 10 a.m.
The choir sang: Awake! put on thy strength, O Zion.
Benediction by Elder Chas. C. Rich.
FOURTH DAY.
Sunday Morning, May 10th.
Singing by the choir of My God, the Spring of all my joys, The life of my delights.
Opening prayer by Elder Geo. B. Wallace.
The choir sang: All hail the glorious day, By prophets long foretold.
Sunday Morning, May 10th.
Singing by the choir of My God, the Spring of all my joys, The life of my delights.
Opening prayer by Elder Geo. B. Wallace.
The choir sang: All hail the glorious day, By prophets long foretold.
Elder Brigham Young, Jr.,
said he had received a great deal of instruction during Conference, relative to the United Order, yet as it was with us when we first embraced the gospel, we could not all at once understand the purposes of Jehovah, and it was not expected that we would understand fully this great co-operative system at the commencement. It was sufficient for him to know that the man at the head of Israel was in that position by the will of God to cause him, the speaker, to join it heart and hand. With regard to the reasons for our not entering sooner into this Order, they were similar to those that prevented children at school taking a sudden jump from the fourth reader to a stage of education far in advance of that—they had not been prepared to receive it. As far as he had been able to observe, however, the people in the settlements he had visited were prepared to enter upon that grand co-operative system. It was in our power to build up the kingdom of God, and it could be done by taking the counsels of those appointed to lead us. We needed not to care for the revilings and ridicule of the wicked, for the time would come when those scoffers would vanish like dew before the rising sun. They served a master, who, as soon as he got them in the position he wanted them to be in, would desert them.
The speaker continued for some time showing that the United Order was the grandest plan that ever had been instituted for the amelioration of the human family, and that it would accomplish all that had been predicted for it, according to the faithfulness of the people. He also bore a powerful testimony to the truth of the great latter-day work, and predicted the final triumph of the Kingdom of God.
said he had received a great deal of instruction during Conference, relative to the United Order, yet as it was with us when we first embraced the gospel, we could not all at once understand the purposes of Jehovah, and it was not expected that we would understand fully this great co-operative system at the commencement. It was sufficient for him to know that the man at the head of Israel was in that position by the will of God to cause him, the speaker, to join it heart and hand. With regard to the reasons for our not entering sooner into this Order, they were similar to those that prevented children at school taking a sudden jump from the fourth reader to a stage of education far in advance of that—they had not been prepared to receive it. As far as he had been able to observe, however, the people in the settlements he had visited were prepared to enter upon that grand co-operative system. It was in our power to build up the kingdom of God, and it could be done by taking the counsels of those appointed to lead us. We needed not to care for the revilings and ridicule of the wicked, for the time would come when those scoffers would vanish like dew before the rising sun. They served a master, who, as soon as he got them in the position he wanted them to be in, would desert them.
The speaker continued for some time showing that the United Order was the grandest plan that ever had been instituted for the amelioration of the human family, and that it would accomplish all that had been predicted for it, according to the faithfulness of the people. He also bore a powerful testimony to the truth of the great latter-day work, and predicted the final triumph of the Kingdom of God.
Elder Albert Carrington
delivered a discourse on the religious and political condition of the world, in which he declaimed against the worship of gold, which had obtained so universally in the earth, and especially in the nation in which we live.
delivered a discourse on the religious and political condition of the world, in which he declaimed against the worship of gold, which had obtained so universally in the earth, and especially in the nation in which we live.
President George A. Smith
made some closing remarks in which he exhorted the Saints to fulfil every duty incumbent upon them; that the proper way to pay tithing was when the property to be tithed was received by the individual. There was, however, but little use of paying tithing unless the person doing so had faith in the principle or law. We moved forward into the United Order or Zion, and we should do so whole-souledly, putting aside selfishness, corruption and dishonesty, and seeking to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those who were in debt should seek at once to discharge their liabilities. The speaker would far rather wear a pair of wooden-bottomed shoes that he rightly owned than a pair made of the finest materials that some merchant had to present a bill for that he could not pay. With regard to wooden bottomed shoes, they had been proved to be far more conducive to health in damp weather than leather, preventing rheumatism, colds, sore throats, etc.
President Smith mentioned a large number of branches of industry that could be successfully carried on in this Territory, such as the manufacture of clothing, hats, caps, wagons, furniture. His remarks were strictly instructive and practical.
made some closing remarks in which he exhorted the Saints to fulfil every duty incumbent upon them; that the proper way to pay tithing was when the property to be tithed was received by the individual. There was, however, but little use of paying tithing unless the person doing so had faith in the principle or law. We moved forward into the United Order or Zion, and we should do so whole-souledly, putting aside selfishness, corruption and dishonesty, and seeking to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those who were in debt should seek at once to discharge their liabilities. The speaker would far rather wear a pair of wooden-bottomed shoes that he rightly owned than a pair made of the finest materials that some merchant had to present a bill for that he could not pay. With regard to wooden bottomed shoes, they had been proved to be far more conducive to health in damp weather than leather, preventing rheumatism, colds, sore throats, etc.
President Smith mentioned a large number of branches of industry that could be successfully carried on in this Territory, such as the manufacture of clothing, hats, caps, wagons, furniture. His remarks were strictly instructive and practical.
The Blessings of Eternal Life Attained at the Sacrifice of All Things—Tithing—Economy Necessary to Self-Sustenance—Home Manufacture
Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, May 9, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
The principles which we have presented before us in the plan of salvation require of us an effort, for we are told that if we would have the blessings of exaltation, we must continue unto the end; and, in the Lectures on Faith, contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, we are informed that if we would attain to the blessings of eternal life, we do it at a sacrifice of all things. The principles connected with this law call upon us to study our acts, designs and intentions in life.
We came into the Church in different parts of the world, under the influence of the Spirit of the Almighty, and we gathered here by the aid of our brethren, or by our own efforts. We came to this land to learn the ways of the Lord and to walk in his paths; but we fail to understand or appreciate, altogether, the importance of a strict attention to our faith, and we become negligent and thoughtless, we are anxious to obtain wealth, and there arises among us a scramble, a kind of emulation one with the other, to obtain a greater amount of this world's goods than our neighbors. On this account many of us neglect to pay our Tithing, notwithstanding we are very anxious to receive the ordinances which are administered in a Temple. The real time to pay Tithing is when we have the means. When we receive money, merchandise or property, if we, in the first instance, go to Bishop Hunter and pay the tenth, making our record square with our faith, we can then use the remainder with a conscience void of offense, and we shall be blessed therein.
Men may commence reasoning on this subject, and say, “We will figure all the year, and if at the end of it we find that we have saved anything, we will pay some Tithing; but if we do not save anything, we think the Bishops ought to pay us something.” The spirit which prompts this feeling is entirely wrong, and those who come to this conclusion will, in the end, feel that if they lose a crop any year they ought to keep back their Tithing for several years after to make up that loss; but the fact is that a Tithing of what we receive from the Lord is due to him, and the residue we are entitled to use according to our best wisdom. The Prophet Malachi says—“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Jesus said, he that gives a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, to one of these little ones, shall in no wise lose his reward; but in order to have the blessing of faith connected with the payment of Tithing, it is necessary to realize the importance of the commandment of God concerning it, for no man can attain to the faith necessary to salvation and eternal life without a sacrifice of all things. Now, if we prefer the things of this world and the pleasures of life to the things of the kingdom of God, we can have our own choice, but, so far as the comparison is concerned, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive,” the glory that is in store for those who keep the commandments of God, and live in accordance with his requirements. If we are to adopt the order of Zion now, it should become in our hearts a cherished desire, an earnest and determined purpose that, in all our actions, we will seek to love our neighbor as ourselves, that we will labor for the good of Zion, and put away selfishness, corruption and false principles.
We have been instructed upon the necessity of economy, of living within ourselves, and of sustaining ourselves by the production of our own hands, yet we carelessly drift in another direction. How often we have been counseled to avoid getting into debt. When the Order of Enoch was organized in Kirtland, the brethren were commanded, in the laws, not to get into debt to their enemies, and on a certain occasion it was commanded that we should make it our object to pay all our debts and liabilities, and that we should take measures to avoid the necessity of incurring more. One of the earliest things I can remember in my boyhood was an answer to the question—How to get rich? The answer was—“Live on half your income, and live a great while.” We know how easy it is to live beyond our income, and to go on the credit system. Credit is a shadow, and debt is bondage, and I advise the brethren to realize that the balloon system of credit so general in our country and among ourselves is dangerous in its nature, and it is our duty, at the earliest time in our power, to close up all our liabilities, pay all our debts, and commence living as we go. I would rather walk the streets in a pair of wooden soles that I own and owe no man for, than in the finest morocco that some merchant was presenting a bill to me to pay for; I should, in my estimation, be more of a gentleman and more of an independent man with the wooden soles than with the fine boots, and I would advise our brethren, if necessity requires, to adopt the wooden sole leather in preference to being in debt.
I visited the land where my ancestors lived in America, the graves of three or four generations of them, and I saw on the old farm, still occupied by some distant kinsmen, a shoe shop. Said I—“What are you doing here?” Said they—“Here is where we make our money, we work the farm in the summer, and in the winter we sit down here and earn three or four hundred dollars making shoes.” “Where do you sell them?” “We make them for some houses in Salem and Lynn, that send them to California and the western Territories and sell them there.” Now, brethren, think of this, a man can learn to make a shoe very quick if he has any ingenuity, and many of us spend our time in partial idleness through the winter, and we buy our shoes from manufacturers in the East, when we could just as well make them ourselves. Another bad feature connected with imported shoes is, that when we put them on and walk into the streets, if the weather is wet, our feet are damp very quick, and I believe, as a matter of health as well as economy, that if, in wet weather, we were to adopt the wooden sole, it would save our children from much sickness, and a great many of us from rheumatism, sore throats and coughs, for much of the imported sole leather is spongy, and that holds the water and makes the feet damp and cold, producing sickness; and I am inclined to believe the statement made by the agricultural societies of Europe, that the use of wooden soles for shoes has a tendency to prevent a great many diseases which are incident to the use of leather. But if we are determined to wear leather, if we set ourselves to the work with a will, we can produce as fine leather of every variety, and as fine shoes and almost every other necessary within ourselves as we import, and a great deal better. But we must stop sending away our hides by the car load and must tan them ourselves. We have plenty of workmen who understand the business, and more can be trained, and we shall then not be compelled to ship carloads of hair from the States for the use of our plasterers, in mixing the lime to finish our walls. This is true political economy.
When I went to St. George last fall, I had a very good pair of boots, made of nice States sole leather, under my feet. The soil of St. George has a cold mineral in it, and although it may be dry and pleasant to walk about, a man wants a thick sole under his feet. I have bled a great many years from a rupture of the left lung which I got while preaching in the streets of London in 1840, and I have suffered a great deal from it, and the moment I would go out to walk on the streets of St. George, a shock, almost like electricity, would strike, through the spongy leather of my boot, from the hollow of my foot to this lung and cause a pain there. I went and got an extra sole put on and a thickness of wax cloth put between the soles, and in this way I wore, all winter, a boot just as stiff in the sole as a clog, and had no rheumatism and escaped cold. This set me to reflecting why I should pay two dollars for those soles, brought from the States, when a piece of cottonwood was just as good, and would answer my purpose just as well. Says one—“Why not wear overshoes?” Who wants the air kept from their feet by wearing a coat of India-rubber, which sweats them and makes them tender? They keep the feet dry, it is true, but for my own part it is not convenient to wear overshoes, and never has been, and on this account I have been compelled to go without. I also observe that some of those who do wear them, if they are not very careful, or if they should happen to forget and step out into the wet without them are almost sure to take cold, and have an attack of rheumatism, especially if they have delicate health. But with us throughout the Territory, I believe it has become almost a financial necessity that we economize our shoe bills. Think of these things and remember that it is within our power to manufacture just as good leather and as much of it, and as good and handsome shoes here as anywhere else, only let us take the time necessary to do it.
The same thing may be said in relation to hats and clothing, and in fact about nine out of every ten articles that we import. One carload of black walnut brought here from the States, and paid for as a lower class of freight, will probably make half a dozen car loads of furniture, and we have the mechanics who know how to make it up; and if we lack the necessary machinery we can procure it. If we please we can also bring lumber for every variety of furniture that we want, that our mountain lumber will not make. The same rule will also apply to wagons, carriages and agricultural implements. This course will be much better than wasting ourselves by being slaves to others, and paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars for furniture of a not very durable quality, and other articles that we can manufacture ourselves.
With me this is a very important item of religion, and it is time for us to cease importing shoes, clothing, wagons and so many other things, and that we manufacture them at home. This will reduce instead of increasing our expenses. When a man buys imported articles for the use of his family, he helps to create difficulties for himself, for by and by the bills begin to come, and bonds and mortgages and all this sort of thing have to be met, and then he begins to worry and stew; but if he used homemade products the means is kept in the Territory, and he has a chance of working at some branch of trade which will in a short time bring it back to him again; whereas if it is sent out of the Territory it helps to impoverish all. Why not retrench? Says one—“I want to wear as good clothes and as fine shoes as anybody else, and I think I should be laughed at if I were to put clogs on.” Well, if they did laugh they could not do a more foolish thing. Why not feel proud and independent of our own high character, that what we have is our own, and we are slaves to nobody? That is my feeling about it. By continually importing we run into debt and cast our ways to strangers, when it is perfectly in our power, if we will do it, to be independent, comfortable and happy, and owe no man anything.
Adjourned till 2 p.m.
The choir sang: Sing loud to God our strength.
Prayer by President Joseph Young.
Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, May 9, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
The principles which we have presented before us in the plan of salvation require of us an effort, for we are told that if we would have the blessings of exaltation, we must continue unto the end; and, in the Lectures on Faith, contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, we are informed that if we would attain to the blessings of eternal life, we do it at a sacrifice of all things. The principles connected with this law call upon us to study our acts, designs and intentions in life.
We came into the Church in different parts of the world, under the influence of the Spirit of the Almighty, and we gathered here by the aid of our brethren, or by our own efforts. We came to this land to learn the ways of the Lord and to walk in his paths; but we fail to understand or appreciate, altogether, the importance of a strict attention to our faith, and we become negligent and thoughtless, we are anxious to obtain wealth, and there arises among us a scramble, a kind of emulation one with the other, to obtain a greater amount of this world's goods than our neighbors. On this account many of us neglect to pay our Tithing, notwithstanding we are very anxious to receive the ordinances which are administered in a Temple. The real time to pay Tithing is when we have the means. When we receive money, merchandise or property, if we, in the first instance, go to Bishop Hunter and pay the tenth, making our record square with our faith, we can then use the remainder with a conscience void of offense, and we shall be blessed therein.
Men may commence reasoning on this subject, and say, “We will figure all the year, and if at the end of it we find that we have saved anything, we will pay some Tithing; but if we do not save anything, we think the Bishops ought to pay us something.” The spirit which prompts this feeling is entirely wrong, and those who come to this conclusion will, in the end, feel that if they lose a crop any year they ought to keep back their Tithing for several years after to make up that loss; but the fact is that a Tithing of what we receive from the Lord is due to him, and the residue we are entitled to use according to our best wisdom. The Prophet Malachi says—“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Jesus said, he that gives a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, to one of these little ones, shall in no wise lose his reward; but in order to have the blessing of faith connected with the payment of Tithing, it is necessary to realize the importance of the commandment of God concerning it, for no man can attain to the faith necessary to salvation and eternal life without a sacrifice of all things. Now, if we prefer the things of this world and the pleasures of life to the things of the kingdom of God, we can have our own choice, but, so far as the comparison is concerned, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive,” the glory that is in store for those who keep the commandments of God, and live in accordance with his requirements. If we are to adopt the order of Zion now, it should become in our hearts a cherished desire, an earnest and determined purpose that, in all our actions, we will seek to love our neighbor as ourselves, that we will labor for the good of Zion, and put away selfishness, corruption and false principles.
We have been instructed upon the necessity of economy, of living within ourselves, and of sustaining ourselves by the production of our own hands, yet we carelessly drift in another direction. How often we have been counseled to avoid getting into debt. When the Order of Enoch was organized in Kirtland, the brethren were commanded, in the laws, not to get into debt to their enemies, and on a certain occasion it was commanded that we should make it our object to pay all our debts and liabilities, and that we should take measures to avoid the necessity of incurring more. One of the earliest things I can remember in my boyhood was an answer to the question—How to get rich? The answer was—“Live on half your income, and live a great while.” We know how easy it is to live beyond our income, and to go on the credit system. Credit is a shadow, and debt is bondage, and I advise the brethren to realize that the balloon system of credit so general in our country and among ourselves is dangerous in its nature, and it is our duty, at the earliest time in our power, to close up all our liabilities, pay all our debts, and commence living as we go. I would rather walk the streets in a pair of wooden soles that I own and owe no man for, than in the finest morocco that some merchant was presenting a bill to me to pay for; I should, in my estimation, be more of a gentleman and more of an independent man with the wooden soles than with the fine boots, and I would advise our brethren, if necessity requires, to adopt the wooden sole leather in preference to being in debt.
I visited the land where my ancestors lived in America, the graves of three or four generations of them, and I saw on the old farm, still occupied by some distant kinsmen, a shoe shop. Said I—“What are you doing here?” Said they—“Here is where we make our money, we work the farm in the summer, and in the winter we sit down here and earn three or four hundred dollars making shoes.” “Where do you sell them?” “We make them for some houses in Salem and Lynn, that send them to California and the western Territories and sell them there.” Now, brethren, think of this, a man can learn to make a shoe very quick if he has any ingenuity, and many of us spend our time in partial idleness through the winter, and we buy our shoes from manufacturers in the East, when we could just as well make them ourselves. Another bad feature connected with imported shoes is, that when we put them on and walk into the streets, if the weather is wet, our feet are damp very quick, and I believe, as a matter of health as well as economy, that if, in wet weather, we were to adopt the wooden sole, it would save our children from much sickness, and a great many of us from rheumatism, sore throats and coughs, for much of the imported sole leather is spongy, and that holds the water and makes the feet damp and cold, producing sickness; and I am inclined to believe the statement made by the agricultural societies of Europe, that the use of wooden soles for shoes has a tendency to prevent a great many diseases which are incident to the use of leather. But if we are determined to wear leather, if we set ourselves to the work with a will, we can produce as fine leather of every variety, and as fine shoes and almost every other necessary within ourselves as we import, and a great deal better. But we must stop sending away our hides by the car load and must tan them ourselves. We have plenty of workmen who understand the business, and more can be trained, and we shall then not be compelled to ship carloads of hair from the States for the use of our plasterers, in mixing the lime to finish our walls. This is true political economy.
When I went to St. George last fall, I had a very good pair of boots, made of nice States sole leather, under my feet. The soil of St. George has a cold mineral in it, and although it may be dry and pleasant to walk about, a man wants a thick sole under his feet. I have bled a great many years from a rupture of the left lung which I got while preaching in the streets of London in 1840, and I have suffered a great deal from it, and the moment I would go out to walk on the streets of St. George, a shock, almost like electricity, would strike, through the spongy leather of my boot, from the hollow of my foot to this lung and cause a pain there. I went and got an extra sole put on and a thickness of wax cloth put between the soles, and in this way I wore, all winter, a boot just as stiff in the sole as a clog, and had no rheumatism and escaped cold. This set me to reflecting why I should pay two dollars for those soles, brought from the States, when a piece of cottonwood was just as good, and would answer my purpose just as well. Says one—“Why not wear overshoes?” Who wants the air kept from their feet by wearing a coat of India-rubber, which sweats them and makes them tender? They keep the feet dry, it is true, but for my own part it is not convenient to wear overshoes, and never has been, and on this account I have been compelled to go without. I also observe that some of those who do wear them, if they are not very careful, or if they should happen to forget and step out into the wet without them are almost sure to take cold, and have an attack of rheumatism, especially if they have delicate health. But with us throughout the Territory, I believe it has become almost a financial necessity that we economize our shoe bills. Think of these things and remember that it is within our power to manufacture just as good leather and as much of it, and as good and handsome shoes here as anywhere else, only let us take the time necessary to do it.
The same thing may be said in relation to hats and clothing, and in fact about nine out of every ten articles that we import. One carload of black walnut brought here from the States, and paid for as a lower class of freight, will probably make half a dozen car loads of furniture, and we have the mechanics who know how to make it up; and if we lack the necessary machinery we can procure it. If we please we can also bring lumber for every variety of furniture that we want, that our mountain lumber will not make. The same rule will also apply to wagons, carriages and agricultural implements. This course will be much better than wasting ourselves by being slaves to others, and paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars for furniture of a not very durable quality, and other articles that we can manufacture ourselves.
With me this is a very important item of religion, and it is time for us to cease importing shoes, clothing, wagons and so many other things, and that we manufacture them at home. This will reduce instead of increasing our expenses. When a man buys imported articles for the use of his family, he helps to create difficulties for himself, for by and by the bills begin to come, and bonds and mortgages and all this sort of thing have to be met, and then he begins to worry and stew; but if he used homemade products the means is kept in the Territory, and he has a chance of working at some branch of trade which will in a short time bring it back to him again; whereas if it is sent out of the Territory it helps to impoverish all. Why not retrench? Says one—“I want to wear as good clothes and as fine shoes as anybody else, and I think I should be laughed at if I were to put clogs on.” Well, if they did laugh they could not do a more foolish thing. Why not feel proud and independent of our own high character, that what we have is our own, and we are slaves to nobody? That is my feeling about it. By continually importing we run into debt and cast our ways to strangers, when it is perfectly in our power, if we will do it, to be independent, comfortable and happy, and owe no man anything.
Adjourned till 2 p.m.
The choir sang: Sing loud to God our strength.
Prayer by President Joseph Young.
Afternoon.
With all my powers of heart and tongue, I’ll praise my Maker in my song; was sung by the choir.
Opening prayer by Elder John Taylor.
Singing by the choir of—Arise, my soul, arise; Shake off thy guilty fears.
The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered to the vast congregation of Saints.
With all my powers of heart and tongue, I’ll praise my Maker in my song; was sung by the choir.
Opening prayer by Elder John Taylor.
Singing by the choir of—Arise, my soul, arise; Shake off thy guilty fears.
The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered to the vast congregation of Saints.
President George A. Smith
addressed the Conference on the education and culture of our children, and adverted to the necessity of setting them suitable examples, which had a powerful effect upon their minds. He desired the Bishops and leading Elders of the various settlements to impress upon the minds of the people the value of Sunday schools, and advise them to patronize them. He considered that the Juvenile Instructor was a valuable aid in teaching children. The Deseret News, Herald, Ogden Junction, Provo times and Beaver and St. George Enterprises, published by our brethren, should be remembered and encouraged. The Deseret News, besides a large amount of useful information concerning current events, in the world, published the discourses of the Church leaders, and should be taken by the families of the Saints. The Woman’s Exponent was also a well edited and useful publication, and should be sustained. Every enterprise that was entered upon, that did not have the influence and aid of the ladies, would necessarily be tardy, and therefore their help was needed in every good work.
He desired the Bishops to counsel the brethren, not natives of this country, who had not yet obtained their naturalization papers, and who were entitled to them, to immediately take steps to get them.
From 100 to 150 men were wanted to go to St. George, to help to put up the walls of the Temple there, that it might be ready to receive the roof by Christmas, and if this were done, it would not be long before the font would be dedicated and the holy ordinances of the gospel administered there.
A children’s jubilee was in contemplation by superintendents and others interested in the Sunday school movement, in which it was expected that from 7,000 to 10,000 children would take part. Songs had been specially composed by the brethren to be sung on the occasion. The undertaking was laudable and should be encouraged by the Saints. It would be held in the New Tabernacle.
President Smith then made some remarks regarding common schools, and advised parents who sent their children to them to visit them, and see how the little ones were situated there. He commented on the necessity of having the schoolrooms properly fitted up for the comfort and convenience of the pupils. As there was plenty of timber in the mountains and mechanical skill among the brethren, there was no necessity for sending to the States for benches.
If the brethren who were entering branches of the United Order met with questions that they could not solve, they should put them in writing and send them to the Presidency for answer.
He concluded by returning his thanks to the leader of the choir, the singers and organist, who had contributed so much to the pleasure of the Conference by their sweet music.
addressed the Conference on the education and culture of our children, and adverted to the necessity of setting them suitable examples, which had a powerful effect upon their minds. He desired the Bishops and leading Elders of the various settlements to impress upon the minds of the people the value of Sunday schools, and advise them to patronize them. He considered that the Juvenile Instructor was a valuable aid in teaching children. The Deseret News, Herald, Ogden Junction, Provo times and Beaver and St. George Enterprises, published by our brethren, should be remembered and encouraged. The Deseret News, besides a large amount of useful information concerning current events, in the world, published the discourses of the Church leaders, and should be taken by the families of the Saints. The Woman’s Exponent was also a well edited and useful publication, and should be sustained. Every enterprise that was entered upon, that did not have the influence and aid of the ladies, would necessarily be tardy, and therefore their help was needed in every good work.
He desired the Bishops to counsel the brethren, not natives of this country, who had not yet obtained their naturalization papers, and who were entitled to them, to immediately take steps to get them.
From 100 to 150 men were wanted to go to St. George, to help to put up the walls of the Temple there, that it might be ready to receive the roof by Christmas, and if this were done, it would not be long before the font would be dedicated and the holy ordinances of the gospel administered there.
A children’s jubilee was in contemplation by superintendents and others interested in the Sunday school movement, in which it was expected that from 7,000 to 10,000 children would take part. Songs had been specially composed by the brethren to be sung on the occasion. The undertaking was laudable and should be encouraged by the Saints. It would be held in the New Tabernacle.
President Smith then made some remarks regarding common schools, and advised parents who sent their children to them to visit them, and see how the little ones were situated there. He commented on the necessity of having the schoolrooms properly fitted up for the comfort and convenience of the pupils. As there was plenty of timber in the mountains and mechanical skill among the brethren, there was no necessity for sending to the States for benches.
If the brethren who were entering branches of the United Order met with questions that they could not solve, they should put them in writing and send them to the Presidency for answer.
He concluded by returning his thanks to the leader of the choir, the singers and organist, who had contributed so much to the pleasure of the Conference by their sweet music.
Education of Children—The Necessity of Supporting Home Publications—Ladies' Relief Societies—St. George and Salt Lake Temples—Sabbath Schools
Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, May 10, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
I rise on the present occasion, desiring the faith and prayers of the brethren and sisters that I may be able to address them by the majesty of the Spirit of the Almighty. When we come before the Lord to partake of the Sacrament, in memory of his death and suffering, we witness unto him that we do remember him, that we love one another, and that we are willing to endeavor to do all in our power to fulfill our several duties on the earth.
One of the first and most responsible duties that rest upon us is the education, training and cultivation of the minds of our children. A child learns from us by our examples, the actions or examples of the parents being ever remembered by the children. A pious old deacon who may, by the way, have been a hypocrite, and had two half bushel measures, one to buy, and the other to sell with, may be very sure that his children will be dishonest. So it may be with our children if we do not act before them as becometh Saints; our precepts may be very good, but their effect will not be very powerful unless our examples correspond.
We are more or less careless as to the observance of the Sabbath; and, in consequence of the neglect of the Latter-day Saints in this respect, I feel anxious to stir them up to diligence in attending meetings on the Sabbath and on fast days, and in having their children do the same. I have visited a number of Sunday schools, and I have found that there was a good deal of interest manifested in them, and that much benefit to the rising generation is resulting from spending a couple of hours on the Sabbath in giving them religious or such other instruction as may be necessary to cultivate their minds; and, I wish the Bishops and presiding Elders, on their return to their several Branches, to stir up the minds of the brethren and sisters to the necessity of encouraging the Sunday schools, that they may be interesting and agreeable as well as instructive. Stir up the parents, too, that they may be alive and awake in getting the children ready for school in season, and that punctuality in attendance be encouraged. Endeavor also to induce parents and other elder members of families who can do so, to attend the Sunday schools, that there may be no lack of teachers, for one of the most useful callings for persons who can possibly or reasonably attend to it, is to teach the youth in Sunday schools.
I also advise that the “Juvenile Instructor” be circulated extensively among our children. It is a work calculated to inform their minds on the principles of the Gospel; from its pages, they may also gain a knowledge of the history of the Church, as well as a variety of other useful and entertaining information. It is a very useful publication, and the benefits it is capable of conferring upon our young people are numerous and great. While speaking on this subject, I will refer to other papers published by our brethren in these valleys—the “Deseret News,” the “Salt Lake Herald,” “Ogden Junction,” “Provo Times,” and the “Beaver” and “St. George Enterprise,” all of which contain a good deal of information about our home affairs specially, and of events in the world generally. I hope that, in all the Stakes of Zion, the people will manifest a spirit and determination to support papers which are published for their benefit. The “Deseret News,” daily, semi-weekly, and weekly, besides the general news of the world, also contains many of the sermons of President Young and others of the Church authorities, and it should be widely circulated in all the settlements of the Saints. The mails now run to all parts of the Territory, and though we cannot boast a great deal about the punctuality of some of them, yet in nearly every settlement a mail comes along once in a while bringing the “Deseret News,” and a man is pretty safe on the main thoroughfares in taking the weekly, and in many localities the semi-weekly or daily may be ventured upon.
We must do something more in relation to printing. The Women's Relief Society are publishing a paper called the “Woman's Exponent,” which is a very ably edited sheet, and one containing a great deal of information. I am surprised that all the gentlemen in the Territory do not take it. I invite all the Elders, Bishops and presiding officers in the Stakes of Zion, on their return home, setting the example themselves, to solicit all their brethren, and especially the sisters, to become subscribers to this little sheet, for I am sure that they will be interested in the instruction and information it contains. I will say that we expect in a short time, through the patronage of the brethren and sisters, that the ladies will be able to enlarge this paper, and to extend its influence far and wide.
It has been my privilege to make visits to, and to become acquainted with the Ladies' Relief Societies in many of the settlements in the Territory, and I am convinced that great good results from the labors of these organizations; and I feel certain that unless the ladies take hold of any movement designed to forward the work of the Lord in the last days, its progress will be tardy. In all parts of the world, when nations are at war, unless the women take an interest in the matter, the war goes on very heavily. I am of the opinion that in the next war between France and Germany, the French will get the best of it. Not but what I have a great opinion of German skill, energy and pluck, but I am satisfied, from traveling and personal observation, that the women of France are thoroughly aroused, and that in the next war between those two nations, the Prussians will have to fight the women of France, and then France will be likely to win.
I say to our sisters of the Relief Societies, be encouraged, meet together and discuss all questions that are calculated to interest or benefit the community, as you have the ability; and as no man can be elected to office in this Territory without the vote of the ladies, make yourselves thoroughly acquainted, not only with the politics of the country, but with every principle of local government that may be advanced, and then, whatever is calculated to benefit the people in their private or domestic circles, you will be enabled to vote intelligently, and to carry it through without difficulty.
We spend a great deal of money in following vain fashions, and in purchasing a great many articles that are useless. These societies, if they choose, can make their own fashions and they can make them according to wisdom, and so as to promote health; a great many of the fashions of the world are calculated to destroy health. A hundred questions connected with domestic economy—housekeeping, cooking, making bread and kindred subjects, that are of importance to the stomach, health and longevity of every man and woman in the Territory may be properly discussed in these Relief Societies, and useful information disseminated. A great many of the women in these valleys have not had good opportunities to become acquainted with the art of cooking, and that is an art which has something to do with every person's happiness. The example of the ladies, and the influence which they exercise, have a tendency, above all things else, to maintain, create, and preserve good morals. Men are apt to behave themselves in the society of women, and if women act wisely and prudently in guiding and controlling the course and conduct of each other, they will be able, to a great extent, to guide, control, and regulate the morals and the conduct of men. We think, however, that the policy of the Christian world, in throwing the responsibility, so far as morality is concerned, entirely upon the heads of women, is a blunder; the men should be held responsible for their own acts, and when they are guilty of that which is corrupt, low or degrading, they should be looked upon as transgressors and cast aside until, by repentance and uprightness, they prove that they are worthy of confidence.
I have been, from the commencement of the formation of this Territory, more or less identified with its politics. I was a member of the Legislature of Deseret, before Utah Territory was organized, and while it was a provisional government. I was a member of the first Legislature of the Territory, and served twenty years. During that period I was brought in contact with five different sets of federal officers, and I had a pretty good knowledge of some forty-eight or forty-nine judges. They were men sent here, from different parts of the country, to administer the law. They had a general knowledge of politics, and of the law as administered in their own immediate localities. But few of them were of high minds and noble sentiments, and many of them were incapable of occupying, with honor, the high positions they were selected to fill. Our people here in these mountains did not take much pains to acquaint themselves with the politics of the country. We had been five times robbed of all we possessed. Our leaders had been murdered and we had been expatriated and driven from the United States into these valleys, then a portion of the republic of Mexico, but afterwards acquired by the United States. We were a great way from any other settlement. It took a month, generally, to get a mail, and for about twelve years we had about seven mails a year; and in the latter part of October or about the first of November, portions of the mails for the winter before would be brought in here with ox teams. This was our condition in early days. We did not pay a great deal of attention to politics; we were not very much divided and hence we cared very little about our elections, and did not pay much attention to them; and a good many who came from abroad were so careless that they did not obtain their naturalization papers, although, from time to time, we advised them to attend to this matter; and I now call upon the Bishops and presiding Elders, when they return home, to recommend the foreign brethren who are not naturalized to see to this; and in all localities or districts which are favored with judges who have more respect for the law than for religious bigotry, let the brethren take all pains to get naturalized, that they may have the benefits of the laws of our country, and be permitted to perform any duty required thereby, and be faithful to do so in all cases; and never let an election go by, or any other occasion in which it is important for us to take part, without paying attention to it. This advice is for the ladies as well as for the gentlemen, for every lady of twenty-one years of age, who is a citizen of the United States, or whose husband or father is a citizen of the United States, has a right, under the laws of Utah to vote; and no one need hope to hold office in Utah if the ladies say no.
I wish to call your attention to the Saint George Temple. We have got the foundation of that Temple up to the water table, about eighteen feet from the ground, and a very nice foundation it is. The building is about one hundred and forty-one feet long and about ninety-three feet wide, and when the walls are up they will be about ninety feet high. We have a very fine draught and design. The building is in a nice locality and in a very fine climate, where, all winter, and in fact the whole year, there is almost perpetual spring and summer weather; and when the Temple is completed, there will be an opportunity to go there and spend the winter and attend to religious ordinances or enjoy yourselves; and if you want to go there through the summer you can eat as delicious fruits as ever grew out of the earth in any country I believe. As far as I have traveled I have never seen anything in the way of fruit that I thought was superior to that which is produced in St. George. We invite a hundred and fifty of the brethren to volunteer to go down there this summer to put up this building, and to find themselves while they are doing it. We shall call upon the Bishops, presiding Elders, teachers and others from the various stakes of Zion to take this matter in hand when they reach home, and find brethren, if they can, who are willing to go and do this work, so that by Christmas, the building may be ready for the roof, that we may, in a very short time, have the font dedicated and the ordinances of the holy Priesthood performed in that place. We appeal to our brethren and sisters in behalf of this St. George Temple. Our brethren in that vicinity are doing all they can to push forward the work, but five or six months' help from a hundred or a hundred and fifty men is very desirable.
I will invite all the brethren and sisters from the settlements who may visit Salt Lake City this summer to step on to the Temple Block and see what we are doing for the Temple here. See the beautiful stones that have been quarried in the Cottonwood and brought here, every one cut and numbered for its place. And it is the duty of the brethren to call upon the Lord for his blessing upon the work and upon the workmen. I also call upon the Bishops and teachers in all the stakes of Zion, to be on hand and to see that, in the building of this Temple, in the Center Stake of Zion in the mountains, we are not under the necessity of involving ourselves in disagreeable liabilities in order to move the work forward. For the last year we have had from sixty to ninety men engaged in cutting stone on this block, and a number of other mechanics to supply them with tools and other necessaries; last summer we had a considerable force of men laying these stones on the walls. In Little Cottonwood Canyon we have continually at work a force of from twenty-five to sixty men quarrying granite, and every day, Sundays excepted, two or three carloads of this granite, from ten to twelve tons each load, are brought from the quarry to the Temple Block. It is really a delightful thing, to a person who has never seen it, to go on to the block and see the skillful manner in which our architects and workmen pick up these big stones and pass them all over the building, and lay them in their place to a hair's breadth. It shows what can be done with a little management, skill and ingenuity.
We earnestly appeal to all Saints, tithe payers, to donate liberally and punctually for the prosecution of this work. While we employ so many skilled mechanics and other laborers, their families constantly require a supply of not only home products, but of money, and merchandise which costs money, and unless the brethren furnish the means to supply these necessities, we shall be obliged to dismiss many of the workmen. We have already incurred liabilities which press upon us, and we call upon the brethren to supply the means necessary to enable us to maintain our credit and continue the work.
It is the design of the teachers and superintendents of Sunday schools, to get up a children's musical jubilee. Some songs have been composed, and they are being learned and practiced, and they calculate to assemble some eight or ten thousand children in this building and have a general time of grand musical song. The enterprise is a very laudable one. We do not know when the festival will take place but Brother Goddard, the Assistant Superintendent, and a number of others who are interested in Sunday schools are doing all they can, and we ask the cooperation of the Bishops, presidents, teachers and brethren and sisters in the several Stakes of Zion to take a part in it, and make it one of the finest festivals of the kind ever held. The progress of our Sabbath schools will be encouraged, and the elevating tendency of music may be appreciated by all who participate therein. We ask our brethren to act wisely and prudently in carrying this matter out, that it may be done in such a manner as shall be satisfactory; and if a little means is necessary on the part of parents or friends let it not be wanting. In the course of my year's travel I visited schools in various parts of the world, but I found none superior to our own. I think that ours compare favorably with them, and in many respects they are superior to most that I visited, and I hope that a spirit to encourage them will be developed.
I wish to see the common school system encouraged as far as possible. The brethren in many settlements are forming Branches of the United Order, and as soon as they get fairly to work, they will be able to introduce improved systems of teaching. I notice, in visiting our settlements, more or less carelessness in relation to schools. Very little pains will make a schoolroom quite comfortable, and I wish to stir up parents to the importance of visiting the schools and seeing what their children are doing, and what the teachers are doing, find out whether the little fellows are sitting on comfortable seats; whether they put a tall boy on a low seat, or a boy with short legs on a high seat, making him humpbacked. The happiness and prosperity of the whole life of a child may be a good deal impaired while attending school through a blockhead of a teacher not knowing enough to get a saw and sawing the legs of the seats his pupils sit upon, so as to make them comfortable. It is the duty of the people to look after the comfort of their children while at school, and also to procure proper books for them; and to see that the schools are provided with fuel, that in the cold weather they may be warm and comfortable. In a new country I know there are a good many disadvantages to contend with, but I feel anxious that nothing, within our power to promote the welfare of our children, should be neglected. There is no need, however, to send to the States to buy school benches. There is plenty of timber in these mountains, and a few days' work properly applied will seat any school room perfectly comfortable, for we can make just as good benches in this country as anywhere else, it is only a question of time and attention. Of course if we can do no better, send and buy; but in order that we may have means to buy what we are forced to buy, it is necessary that we exercise prudence and economy and supply our own wants as far as possible. The wholesale Cooperative Store here imports probably five million dollars' worth of goods per annum. One-half of these goods could be produced at home with our own labor; it is only a question of time and management to do it. If we were to produce one-half of these goods, we should be in easy circumstances all the time, and should have plenty to buy everything we wanted to buy. We could also produce many things to sell; but by purchasing, in such immense quantities, articles that we can make ourselves, we impoverish ourselves all the time, hence we advise our brethren and sisters, in all their councils, meetings, orders, associations, and relief and retrenchment societies, to take into account every question where economy can be exercised and prudence observed, and where we can save a dollar instead of spending one let us do it, for by taking this course, we can lay a foundation for permanent comfort at home, and this will prevent us from being dependent upon abroad. This is a part of my religion and this I shall continue to preach.
In relation to this United Order, I will say to those who are entering it, if questions arise that trouble you and that you wish to have explained; or if anything should arise upon which you wish for advice or counsel, if you will write your queries and send them along here to the President's office, we will answer them, and show you that the whole affair can be carried out with perfect ease. Only let this people act with one heart and one mind, as the Nephites did, and success is certain; and in a short time, a great many will wonder, as some in the southern settlements have already expressed it, “Why did we not unite before?” I feel satisfied that the spirit which has been manifested here and elsewhere on this subject, is the same spirit which bore testimony to you, when you went down into the waters of baptism, that this was the work of God; and when we have this spirit in our hearts we can move forward with joy and thanksgiving, and can accomplish that which is required of us.
I wish to return my thanks to our musicians—those who direct and all who have participated in the musical exercises of our Conference. I have enjoyed them. I have visited many parts of the world, and have been to see their organs and to hear their music; but I have heard none with which I am so well pleased as with our own. There is something sweet and lovely here, and I feel that the Spirit of the Lord has warmed the hearts and inspired the souls of those who have made melody for us during the Conference. I pray that God may bless them, that he may enlighten their minds, enliven their souls, and make their songs songs of glory forever. Amen.
Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, May 10, 1874.
Reported by David W. Evans.
I rise on the present occasion, desiring the faith and prayers of the brethren and sisters that I may be able to address them by the majesty of the Spirit of the Almighty. When we come before the Lord to partake of the Sacrament, in memory of his death and suffering, we witness unto him that we do remember him, that we love one another, and that we are willing to endeavor to do all in our power to fulfill our several duties on the earth.
One of the first and most responsible duties that rest upon us is the education, training and cultivation of the minds of our children. A child learns from us by our examples, the actions or examples of the parents being ever remembered by the children. A pious old deacon who may, by the way, have been a hypocrite, and had two half bushel measures, one to buy, and the other to sell with, may be very sure that his children will be dishonest. So it may be with our children if we do not act before them as becometh Saints; our precepts may be very good, but their effect will not be very powerful unless our examples correspond.
We are more or less careless as to the observance of the Sabbath; and, in consequence of the neglect of the Latter-day Saints in this respect, I feel anxious to stir them up to diligence in attending meetings on the Sabbath and on fast days, and in having their children do the same. I have visited a number of Sunday schools, and I have found that there was a good deal of interest manifested in them, and that much benefit to the rising generation is resulting from spending a couple of hours on the Sabbath in giving them religious or such other instruction as may be necessary to cultivate their minds; and, I wish the Bishops and presiding Elders, on their return to their several Branches, to stir up the minds of the brethren and sisters to the necessity of encouraging the Sunday schools, that they may be interesting and agreeable as well as instructive. Stir up the parents, too, that they may be alive and awake in getting the children ready for school in season, and that punctuality in attendance be encouraged. Endeavor also to induce parents and other elder members of families who can do so, to attend the Sunday schools, that there may be no lack of teachers, for one of the most useful callings for persons who can possibly or reasonably attend to it, is to teach the youth in Sunday schools.
I also advise that the “Juvenile Instructor” be circulated extensively among our children. It is a work calculated to inform their minds on the principles of the Gospel; from its pages, they may also gain a knowledge of the history of the Church, as well as a variety of other useful and entertaining information. It is a very useful publication, and the benefits it is capable of conferring upon our young people are numerous and great. While speaking on this subject, I will refer to other papers published by our brethren in these valleys—the “Deseret News,” the “Salt Lake Herald,” “Ogden Junction,” “Provo Times,” and the “Beaver” and “St. George Enterprise,” all of which contain a good deal of information about our home affairs specially, and of events in the world generally. I hope that, in all the Stakes of Zion, the people will manifest a spirit and determination to support papers which are published for their benefit. The “Deseret News,” daily, semi-weekly, and weekly, besides the general news of the world, also contains many of the sermons of President Young and others of the Church authorities, and it should be widely circulated in all the settlements of the Saints. The mails now run to all parts of the Territory, and though we cannot boast a great deal about the punctuality of some of them, yet in nearly every settlement a mail comes along once in a while bringing the “Deseret News,” and a man is pretty safe on the main thoroughfares in taking the weekly, and in many localities the semi-weekly or daily may be ventured upon.
We must do something more in relation to printing. The Women's Relief Society are publishing a paper called the “Woman's Exponent,” which is a very ably edited sheet, and one containing a great deal of information. I am surprised that all the gentlemen in the Territory do not take it. I invite all the Elders, Bishops and presiding officers in the Stakes of Zion, on their return home, setting the example themselves, to solicit all their brethren, and especially the sisters, to become subscribers to this little sheet, for I am sure that they will be interested in the instruction and information it contains. I will say that we expect in a short time, through the patronage of the brethren and sisters, that the ladies will be able to enlarge this paper, and to extend its influence far and wide.
It has been my privilege to make visits to, and to become acquainted with the Ladies' Relief Societies in many of the settlements in the Territory, and I am convinced that great good results from the labors of these organizations; and I feel certain that unless the ladies take hold of any movement designed to forward the work of the Lord in the last days, its progress will be tardy. In all parts of the world, when nations are at war, unless the women take an interest in the matter, the war goes on very heavily. I am of the opinion that in the next war between France and Germany, the French will get the best of it. Not but what I have a great opinion of German skill, energy and pluck, but I am satisfied, from traveling and personal observation, that the women of France are thoroughly aroused, and that in the next war between those two nations, the Prussians will have to fight the women of France, and then France will be likely to win.
I say to our sisters of the Relief Societies, be encouraged, meet together and discuss all questions that are calculated to interest or benefit the community, as you have the ability; and as no man can be elected to office in this Territory without the vote of the ladies, make yourselves thoroughly acquainted, not only with the politics of the country, but with every principle of local government that may be advanced, and then, whatever is calculated to benefit the people in their private or domestic circles, you will be enabled to vote intelligently, and to carry it through without difficulty.
We spend a great deal of money in following vain fashions, and in purchasing a great many articles that are useless. These societies, if they choose, can make their own fashions and they can make them according to wisdom, and so as to promote health; a great many of the fashions of the world are calculated to destroy health. A hundred questions connected with domestic economy—housekeeping, cooking, making bread and kindred subjects, that are of importance to the stomach, health and longevity of every man and woman in the Territory may be properly discussed in these Relief Societies, and useful information disseminated. A great many of the women in these valleys have not had good opportunities to become acquainted with the art of cooking, and that is an art which has something to do with every person's happiness. The example of the ladies, and the influence which they exercise, have a tendency, above all things else, to maintain, create, and preserve good morals. Men are apt to behave themselves in the society of women, and if women act wisely and prudently in guiding and controlling the course and conduct of each other, they will be able, to a great extent, to guide, control, and regulate the morals and the conduct of men. We think, however, that the policy of the Christian world, in throwing the responsibility, so far as morality is concerned, entirely upon the heads of women, is a blunder; the men should be held responsible for their own acts, and when they are guilty of that which is corrupt, low or degrading, they should be looked upon as transgressors and cast aside until, by repentance and uprightness, they prove that they are worthy of confidence.
I have been, from the commencement of the formation of this Territory, more or less identified with its politics. I was a member of the Legislature of Deseret, before Utah Territory was organized, and while it was a provisional government. I was a member of the first Legislature of the Territory, and served twenty years. During that period I was brought in contact with five different sets of federal officers, and I had a pretty good knowledge of some forty-eight or forty-nine judges. They were men sent here, from different parts of the country, to administer the law. They had a general knowledge of politics, and of the law as administered in their own immediate localities. But few of them were of high minds and noble sentiments, and many of them were incapable of occupying, with honor, the high positions they were selected to fill. Our people here in these mountains did not take much pains to acquaint themselves with the politics of the country. We had been five times robbed of all we possessed. Our leaders had been murdered and we had been expatriated and driven from the United States into these valleys, then a portion of the republic of Mexico, but afterwards acquired by the United States. We were a great way from any other settlement. It took a month, generally, to get a mail, and for about twelve years we had about seven mails a year; and in the latter part of October or about the first of November, portions of the mails for the winter before would be brought in here with ox teams. This was our condition in early days. We did not pay a great deal of attention to politics; we were not very much divided and hence we cared very little about our elections, and did not pay much attention to them; and a good many who came from abroad were so careless that they did not obtain their naturalization papers, although, from time to time, we advised them to attend to this matter; and I now call upon the Bishops and presiding Elders, when they return home, to recommend the foreign brethren who are not naturalized to see to this; and in all localities or districts which are favored with judges who have more respect for the law than for religious bigotry, let the brethren take all pains to get naturalized, that they may have the benefits of the laws of our country, and be permitted to perform any duty required thereby, and be faithful to do so in all cases; and never let an election go by, or any other occasion in which it is important for us to take part, without paying attention to it. This advice is for the ladies as well as for the gentlemen, for every lady of twenty-one years of age, who is a citizen of the United States, or whose husband or father is a citizen of the United States, has a right, under the laws of Utah to vote; and no one need hope to hold office in Utah if the ladies say no.
I wish to call your attention to the Saint George Temple. We have got the foundation of that Temple up to the water table, about eighteen feet from the ground, and a very nice foundation it is. The building is about one hundred and forty-one feet long and about ninety-three feet wide, and when the walls are up they will be about ninety feet high. We have a very fine draught and design. The building is in a nice locality and in a very fine climate, where, all winter, and in fact the whole year, there is almost perpetual spring and summer weather; and when the Temple is completed, there will be an opportunity to go there and spend the winter and attend to religious ordinances or enjoy yourselves; and if you want to go there through the summer you can eat as delicious fruits as ever grew out of the earth in any country I believe. As far as I have traveled I have never seen anything in the way of fruit that I thought was superior to that which is produced in St. George. We invite a hundred and fifty of the brethren to volunteer to go down there this summer to put up this building, and to find themselves while they are doing it. We shall call upon the Bishops, presiding Elders, teachers and others from the various stakes of Zion to take this matter in hand when they reach home, and find brethren, if they can, who are willing to go and do this work, so that by Christmas, the building may be ready for the roof, that we may, in a very short time, have the font dedicated and the ordinances of the holy Priesthood performed in that place. We appeal to our brethren and sisters in behalf of this St. George Temple. Our brethren in that vicinity are doing all they can to push forward the work, but five or six months' help from a hundred or a hundred and fifty men is very desirable.
I will invite all the brethren and sisters from the settlements who may visit Salt Lake City this summer to step on to the Temple Block and see what we are doing for the Temple here. See the beautiful stones that have been quarried in the Cottonwood and brought here, every one cut and numbered for its place. And it is the duty of the brethren to call upon the Lord for his blessing upon the work and upon the workmen. I also call upon the Bishops and teachers in all the stakes of Zion, to be on hand and to see that, in the building of this Temple, in the Center Stake of Zion in the mountains, we are not under the necessity of involving ourselves in disagreeable liabilities in order to move the work forward. For the last year we have had from sixty to ninety men engaged in cutting stone on this block, and a number of other mechanics to supply them with tools and other necessaries; last summer we had a considerable force of men laying these stones on the walls. In Little Cottonwood Canyon we have continually at work a force of from twenty-five to sixty men quarrying granite, and every day, Sundays excepted, two or three carloads of this granite, from ten to twelve tons each load, are brought from the quarry to the Temple Block. It is really a delightful thing, to a person who has never seen it, to go on to the block and see the skillful manner in which our architects and workmen pick up these big stones and pass them all over the building, and lay them in their place to a hair's breadth. It shows what can be done with a little management, skill and ingenuity.
We earnestly appeal to all Saints, tithe payers, to donate liberally and punctually for the prosecution of this work. While we employ so many skilled mechanics and other laborers, their families constantly require a supply of not only home products, but of money, and merchandise which costs money, and unless the brethren furnish the means to supply these necessities, we shall be obliged to dismiss many of the workmen. We have already incurred liabilities which press upon us, and we call upon the brethren to supply the means necessary to enable us to maintain our credit and continue the work.
It is the design of the teachers and superintendents of Sunday schools, to get up a children's musical jubilee. Some songs have been composed, and they are being learned and practiced, and they calculate to assemble some eight or ten thousand children in this building and have a general time of grand musical song. The enterprise is a very laudable one. We do not know when the festival will take place but Brother Goddard, the Assistant Superintendent, and a number of others who are interested in Sunday schools are doing all they can, and we ask the cooperation of the Bishops, presidents, teachers and brethren and sisters in the several Stakes of Zion to take a part in it, and make it one of the finest festivals of the kind ever held. The progress of our Sabbath schools will be encouraged, and the elevating tendency of music may be appreciated by all who participate therein. We ask our brethren to act wisely and prudently in carrying this matter out, that it may be done in such a manner as shall be satisfactory; and if a little means is necessary on the part of parents or friends let it not be wanting. In the course of my year's travel I visited schools in various parts of the world, but I found none superior to our own. I think that ours compare favorably with them, and in many respects they are superior to most that I visited, and I hope that a spirit to encourage them will be developed.
I wish to see the common school system encouraged as far as possible. The brethren in many settlements are forming Branches of the United Order, and as soon as they get fairly to work, they will be able to introduce improved systems of teaching. I notice, in visiting our settlements, more or less carelessness in relation to schools. Very little pains will make a schoolroom quite comfortable, and I wish to stir up parents to the importance of visiting the schools and seeing what their children are doing, and what the teachers are doing, find out whether the little fellows are sitting on comfortable seats; whether they put a tall boy on a low seat, or a boy with short legs on a high seat, making him humpbacked. The happiness and prosperity of the whole life of a child may be a good deal impaired while attending school through a blockhead of a teacher not knowing enough to get a saw and sawing the legs of the seats his pupils sit upon, so as to make them comfortable. It is the duty of the people to look after the comfort of their children while at school, and also to procure proper books for them; and to see that the schools are provided with fuel, that in the cold weather they may be warm and comfortable. In a new country I know there are a good many disadvantages to contend with, but I feel anxious that nothing, within our power to promote the welfare of our children, should be neglected. There is no need, however, to send to the States to buy school benches. There is plenty of timber in these mountains, and a few days' work properly applied will seat any school room perfectly comfortable, for we can make just as good benches in this country as anywhere else, it is only a question of time and attention. Of course if we can do no better, send and buy; but in order that we may have means to buy what we are forced to buy, it is necessary that we exercise prudence and economy and supply our own wants as far as possible. The wholesale Cooperative Store here imports probably five million dollars' worth of goods per annum. One-half of these goods could be produced at home with our own labor; it is only a question of time and management to do it. If we were to produce one-half of these goods, we should be in easy circumstances all the time, and should have plenty to buy everything we wanted to buy. We could also produce many things to sell; but by purchasing, in such immense quantities, articles that we can make ourselves, we impoverish ourselves all the time, hence we advise our brethren and sisters, in all their councils, meetings, orders, associations, and relief and retrenchment societies, to take into account every question where economy can be exercised and prudence observed, and where we can save a dollar instead of spending one let us do it, for by taking this course, we can lay a foundation for permanent comfort at home, and this will prevent us from being dependent upon abroad. This is a part of my religion and this I shall continue to preach.
In relation to this United Order, I will say to those who are entering it, if questions arise that trouble you and that you wish to have explained; or if anything should arise upon which you wish for advice or counsel, if you will write your queries and send them along here to the President's office, we will answer them, and show you that the whole affair can be carried out with perfect ease. Only let this people act with one heart and one mind, as the Nephites did, and success is certain; and in a short time, a great many will wonder, as some in the southern settlements have already expressed it, “Why did we not unite before?” I feel satisfied that the spirit which has been manifested here and elsewhere on this subject, is the same spirit which bore testimony to you, when you went down into the waters of baptism, that this was the work of God; and when we have this spirit in our hearts we can move forward with joy and thanksgiving, and can accomplish that which is required of us.
I wish to return my thanks to our musicians—those who direct and all who have participated in the musical exercises of our Conference. I have enjoyed them. I have visited many parts of the world, and have been to see their organs and to hear their music; but I have heard none with which I am so well pleased as with our own. There is something sweet and lovely here, and I feel that the Spirit of the Lord has warmed the hearts and inspired the souls of those who have made melody for us during the Conference. I pray that God may bless them, that he may enlighten their minds, enliven their souls, and make their songs songs of glory forever. Amen.
President Brigham Young
delivered a discourse on the subject of the education of children, and made remarks bearing on the United Order, showing that Zion could only be built up by a people of one heart and one mind. He also spoke of the designs and purposes of God, clearly indicating that the only sacrifice required of the Saints was to dismiss from their hearts the power that sought to destroy every principle of light, truth and virtue, and be governed by the Spirit of God. He pronounced a blessing upon the brethren who had spoken during Conference, those who had prayed, also the choir and its leader, the organist, the Latter-day Saints generally, and all the honest hearted people on the face of the earth.
Conference adjourned till the 6th day of October, at 10 o’clock in the morning, to meet in the New Tabernacle, in this City.
The anthem, “Gloria,” was sung by the choir.
Benediction by President George A. Smith.
The attendance throughout was probably larger than that at any previous conference since the organization of the Church. At the last meeting, Sunday afternoon, the huge building was filled in every available part. Owing to the great and important step upon which the church is entering with a view to the building up of the Zion of God on the earth, the proceedings of the conference were of the most intense interest to every true Latter-day Saint. A powerful spirit was manifested and the speakers were blessed with the spirit of inspiration, and the hearts of the people gladdened and made to rejoice.
delivered a discourse on the subject of the education of children, and made remarks bearing on the United Order, showing that Zion could only be built up by a people of one heart and one mind. He also spoke of the designs and purposes of God, clearly indicating that the only sacrifice required of the Saints was to dismiss from their hearts the power that sought to destroy every principle of light, truth and virtue, and be governed by the Spirit of God. He pronounced a blessing upon the brethren who had spoken during Conference, those who had prayed, also the choir and its leader, the organist, the Latter-day Saints generally, and all the honest hearted people on the face of the earth.
Conference adjourned till the 6th day of October, at 10 o’clock in the morning, to meet in the New Tabernacle, in this City.
The anthem, “Gloria,” was sung by the choir.
Benediction by President George A. Smith.
The attendance throughout was probably larger than that at any previous conference since the organization of the Church. At the last meeting, Sunday afternoon, the huge building was filled in every available part. Owing to the great and important step upon which the church is entering with a view to the building up of the Zion of God on the earth, the proceedings of the conference were of the most intense interest to every true Latter-day Saint. A powerful spirit was manifested and the speakers were blessed with the spirit of inspiration, and the hearts of the people gladdened and made to rejoice.